Description
We are thrilled to welcome Anna Whitwham to discuss her brand new memoir, Soft Tissue Damage, which tells the story of her lifelong interest in boxing, charted by the physical act of getting into the ring.
But this is more than just a lyrical account of an amateur’s first steps; it’s a moving exploration of family history and grief. It is the loss of her mother to cancer that inspires Whitwham to start fighting in the first place, and her depictions of both experiences work on the reader like a one-two punch.
Soft Tissue Damage tells the story of how Anna tried to claim some power back – through fighting. From her first tentative training sessions through bruising sparring and building up to a full-blooded fight, Whitwham charts the transformative impact of the sport.
Tender, insightful, honest and full of startling and original thought, this is a book that fully examines what the human body is capable of, in its capacity for sexuality and violence, love and death, strength and vulnerability.
‘From the very first bell, Anna Whitwham’s boxing memoir places her firmly in the tradition of Joyce Carol Oates, Norman Mailer and other novelists who have evoked the blood and spit of the world’s most brutal and beautiful sport. […] Fans of sports writing and Whitwham’s last book, the celebrated novel Boxer Handsome, will not be disappointed’ – GQ
Anna Whitwham teaches on the MA in creative writing at Royal Holloway, London, and runs a course called ‘Writing Men: The Burden of Masculinity.’ She was an Observer Best Debut Novelist, and the first female journalist to write for Boxing News. She is the author of Boxer Handsome, and Soft Tissue Damage is her second book.
She’ll be joined in conversation by Cecilia Knapp, a poet, novelist, and the Young People’s Laureate for London 2020/2021. She was shortlisted for the 2022 Forward prize for best single poem, and is the winner of the 2021 Ruth Rendell award. Her debut poetry collection Peach Pig was published by Corsair in 2022, and her debut novel Little Boxes is published by The Borough Press.
Ticket price includes a glass of wine or a soft drink.