This week, the dragons are delighted to welcome Kayla Ancrum, author of The Wicker King, to the show. Kayla's debut novel is a dark, contemporary YA thriller that delves deeply into hard hitting issues such as mental illness and codependency, which is why Jules and Madeleine were thrilled to have her join a discussion about portrayals of mental illness in YA fiction. Still labouring under the Gothic tropes of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, as well as meeting resistance and misunderstanding in the modern day, mental illness can be a knotty issue. In a previous episode (You Fancy Me Mad) the dragons deconstructed the Gothic tropes surrounding MH. In this episode, they look at how literature can help normalise a health issue that is far more common than people realise, and how it can help combat misinformation. What is good mental illness representation in YA fiction? And where are the areas in which it falls down or could use work? Is mental illness in fiction suffering from being, in many cases, an example forced to bear the weight of an entire spectrum?
Join us for a lively discussion and find out.
Title Music; Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 101: Back on the Broom - More Enchanting Children's Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 100: So You Want to Be a Writer? - Celebrating 100 Episodes of Dissecting Dragons
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 99: Long Live the Resistance - The Problem of Magical Revolution in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 98: In Review: 2017 - the Good, the Bad and the Weird
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 97: Cheese and Crackers - Our Favourite Bad Christmas Films
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 96: Fanfiction Revisited - Cassie Clare, 50 Shades and the Next Top Seller
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 95: The Horse's Point of View - Gender Politics in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 94: Inner Space - Altered Realities in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 93: Damnation, Retribution and Redemption - Hell Planes and Purgatory in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 92: Blood Drinkers and Psychic Thieves - the Vampire in SpeculativeFiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 91: Evil Twins and Partners in Crime - Siblings in Speculative Fiction and Real Life
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 90: Yay or Neigh - Horses, Pegasus and Kelpies in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 89: A Night at the Overlook Hotel - Haunted Houses in Speculative Fiction (And their real life counterparts)
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 88: Heavenly Hosts and Fallen Fiends - The Angelic Being in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragon: Episode 87: Losing the Plot - Revamping, Recycling and Reusing your Writing.
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 86: Leches, Perverts and Peeping Toms - Attitudes to Sexual Depravity in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 85: Witches, Bitches & Shrews - The Wise Woman Archetype in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 84: More Tainted Love - the Romantic Subplot in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragon: Episode 83: Spellbinding Songs, Enchanting Tunes & the Magic of Music in Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 82: Incubi, Vampires and Fallen Angels - the Demon Lover in Speculative Fiction
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Lit Society: Books and Drama
Ex Libris
Write The Book: Conversations on Craft
Gulliver’s Travels
Anne of Avonlea
Fresh Air
Myths and Legends