From Experience to Book

Happening

This writing thread follows Annie Duchesne’s decision to turn a difficult memory into a narrative that can be shared.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

The Urge to Begin The Urge to Begin from "Happening". The Urge to Begin A Frightening Project Annie Duchesne begins writing without knowing whether she can continue.

The Urge to Begin from "Happening". The Urge to Begin A Frightening Project Annie Duchesne begins writing without knowing whether she can continue.

The Urge to Begin A Frightening Project Annie Duchesne begins writing without knowing whether she can continue. The impulse feels as compelling as it is dangerous. A Dream of Publication She dreams of a book marked out of print, unsure whether the image urges her to write or predicts futility. The uncertainty becomes part of the project’s beginning.

Choosing Narrative Choosing Narrative from "Happening". Choosing Narrative A Form for Time Annie Duchesne decides that narrative can convey an event experienced as time flowing inside and outside the body.

Choosing Narrative from "Happening". Choosing Narrative A Form for Time Annie Duchesne decides that narrative can convey an event experienced as time flowing inside and outside the body.

Choosing Narrative A Form for Time Annie Duchesne decides that narrative can convey an event experienced as time flowing inside and outside the body. The form must hold both action and duration. Re-entering Images She plans to revisit each image until words feel physically true. Writing becomes an investigation rather than a simple report of remembered facts.

Memory Resists Memory Resists from "Happening". Memory Resists Fixed Phrases Some sentences and images return unchanged, including the surgeon’s insult and the basin with the probe.

Memory Resists from "Happening". Memory Resists Fixed Phrases Some sentences and images return unchanged, including the surgeon’s insult and the basin with the probe.

Memory Resists Fixed Phrases Some sentences and images return unchanged, including the surgeon’s insult and the basin with the probe. Their persistence shapes what can be narrated. Literary Emotion Annie Duchesne distinguishes the emotions generated by writing from those she felt at the time. This distinction lets the book acknowledge its own reconstruction without denying the event.

Returning to the Passage Returning to the Passage from "Happening". Returning to the Passage A Physical Test Annie Duchesne revisits Passage Cardinet, searching for the church and café connected to the procedure.

Returning to the Passage from "Happening". Returning to the Passage A Physical Test Annie Duchesne revisits Passage Cardinet, searching for the church and café connected to the procedure.

Returning to the Passage A Physical Test Annie Duchesne revisits Passage Cardinet, searching for the church and café connected to the procedure. The changed neighborhood offers few reliable visual confirmations. An Unfulfilled Hope She realizes she had hoped something might happen to her there. The return tests whether the present can reproduce the intensity of the past.

A Finished Account A Finished Account from "Happening". A Finished Account Experience Made Legible Annie Duchesne completes an account of an experience involving life, death, law, ethics, and taboo.

A Finished Account from "Happening". A Finished Account Experience Made Legible Annie Duchesne completes an account of an experience involving life, death, law, ethics, and taboo.

A Finished Account Experience Made Legible Annie Duchesne completes an account of an experience involving life, death, law, ethics, and taboo. Writing gives public form to what once had no place in language. A Shared Existence She imagines her body, sensations, and thoughts becoming writing that other people can understand. The private event enters a collective life through narration.

About one week before the opening account

At the start of the writing project

During composition

February to October 1999

At the end of the book