Cave-Lore explores themes of confinement, human adaptation, ecocriticism, archaeology, performance, and spatial theory. Whilst outlining the resonances of folklore that reside in our collective and cultural imagination, the writing has evolved into a broader exploration of myths, hauntings, magic, gestation, burial, illness, time, and ritual, within the context of cave dwelling. The work addresses the effects of inhabiting spaces that were historically conceived of as sites of sanctuary, whilst documenting the inexplicable, energetically charged, liminal thresholds to other worlds or dimensions that elicit visceral responses. 

I looked to the caves to teach me about the psychological and emotional response of the individual and collective psyche emerging to an altered normalcy, and I was seduced by the idea there might be a solution to re-emergence, a way to adapt to that particular social standstill, the haunting of an alternative timeline that did not happen. Impelled by this interest in the difficulties experienced following our collective re-emergence from the pandemic that turned us all, to some extent, into de-socialised bodies, the writing picks up themes of isolation, incarceration, bodies under duress, and advocates for cognitive reprogramming and offer refuge from the relentless demands of modern life.

Part memoir, part travel journal and geo-spatial investigation, my research, finds caves to be multi-dimensional, atmospheric, immersive spaces, energised by anecdotes, myths, and stories of human occupation. I found that they were energetically charged spaces that we respond to psychologically and emotionally and that my psychological state was irrevocably changed by visiting them.

I discovered a variety of durational underground projects that taught me about human adaptation and resilience in the face of adversity. Following these interviews with explorers, speleologists and cave managers, I appropriate scientific and anecdotal material from these human adaptation and chronobiology experiments. These durational experiments chimed with the ways we had taken to our homes during the pandemic and sought refuge from a virus that threatened to ravage our bodies but had also, crucially, infected our thinking with fears of contagion. In the writing, the cave knowledge collides with artistic expression and poetic sensibility, generating a specific frisson, revealing productive tensions through acts of play, interpretation, conceptualisation, and distillation. 

During the research, I became fascinated with the story of Veronica Le Guen, a 33-year-old American woman, who had intentionally overdosed on barbiturates two years after emerging from a cave in Millau, France — where she had spent 111 days as part of a scientific human behaviour study on her biological and circadian rhythms, an experiment led by Michel Siffre. Throughout, Veronica Le Guen emerges as a pivotal figure and a companion, her story is intricately woven through the text, underscoring the impact of extreme isolation on the human psyche.

This personal writing project has received grants and funding from the British Academy / Leverhulme Small Research Grant, the Arts Council, and Society of Authors.

A forthcoming pamphlet, tentatively named, SLOW DOWN, YOU THIRSTY FREAK for the Seamarks series, a short run of 26 copies, curated by one of the editors of Shearsman Magazine, Kelvin Corcoran, and in collaboration with the wonderful artist David Rees.

If you would like to engage with other disciplines / broaden your thinking beyond the literary landscape of your project, you can book a consultation with me by clicking here.