Between the Word and the World

Is it possible for an experience of literature to be an experience of life? Can we think of words as existing in three dimensions, as things we move through, in much the same way that we move through the world? And how can we account for their effects beyond the page as we carry them with us, in our bodies, in our selves, holding on to them over the course of our years?

In Between the Word and the World, Anna MacDonald sets out on an eloquent exploration of these questions and the issues they raise. Drifting with ease from fiction to philosophy, from digital ephemera to psychogeography, from archival voyages to personal correspondence, her essays repeatedly probe the mysteries of writing and its power over our moods, our perceptions, and our sense of being.

Whether turning her attention to the poetic musings of Esther Kinsky, the sinister imagery of Cynan Jones, or the fragmented politics of Valeria Luiselli, MacDonald enacts new and provocative ways of thinking about reading, writing, and living, so that “the worlds dreamed on and beyond the page bleed into one another.”