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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
''I am from a family of strong women.'
'Amani Haydar suffered the unimaginable when she lost her mother in a brutal act of domestic violence perpetrated by her father. Five months pregnant at the time, her own perception of how she wanted to mother (and how she had mothered) was shaped by this devastating murder.
'After her mother's death, Amani began reassessing everything she knew of her parents' relationship. They had been so unhappy for so long - should she have known that it would end like this? A lawyer by profession, she also saw the holes in the justice system for addressing and combating emotional abuse and coercive control.
'Amani also had to reckon with the weight of familial and cultural context. Her parents were brought together in an arranged marriage, her mother thirteen years her father's junior. Her grandmother was brutally killed in the 2006 war in Lebanon, adding complex layers of intergenerational trauma.
'Writing with grace and beauty, Amani has drawn from this a story of female resilience and the role of motherhood in the home and in the world. In The Mother Wound, she uses her own strength to help other survivors find their voices.' (Publication summary)
Notes
-
Book club notes available from publisher website.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
-
The White Gaze and Brown Rage in Australian Literature
2021
single work
essay
— Appears in: Meanjin Online 2021; Meanjin , Summer vol. 80 no. 4 2021;'It was at a March 2002 camp at the Sydney Academy of Sport and Health where I overheard Steve Jones, who was awarded dux that year, talking about my family.' (Introduction)
-
y
At Home with Amani Haydar
Astrid Edwards
(interviewer),
Melbourne
:
Bad Producer Productions
,
2021
23449473
2021
single work
podcast
interview
'Amani Haydar is an artist, lawyer and advocate for women's health and safety. Her devastating and yet hopeful debut is The Mother Wound.
'Amani experienced the unimaginable when she lost her mother in a brutal act of domestic violence perpetrated by her father. Writing with grace and beauty in The Mother Wound, Amani shares the stories of her mother and grandmother to help other survivors find their voices.
'Amani was a finalist in the 2018 Archibald Prize, and she uses visual art and writing to explore the personal and political dimensions of abuse, loss, identity and resilience.' (Production introduction)
-
A Siphon for Fury
2021
single work
review
— Appears in: Sydney Review of Books , September 2021;
— Review of The Mother Wound 2021 single work autobiography -
A Family Ripped Apart
2021
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 10 July 2021; (p. 14)
— Review of The Mother Wound 2021 single work autobiography 'Amani Haydar’s deeply personal account of her mother’s desperate attempt to escape a violent marriage is brave and powerful, writes Paige Taylor Growing up in western Sydney in the 1990s with her parents and her three siblings, Amani Haydar admired her father for his smarts and his work ethic. She and her dad would laugh and laugh together. She also says she went to bed some nights hearing her mum shout and cry in the background. It could be the beginning of a skilful escalation, if this was a crime novel.' (Introduction) -
Books Roundup : The Mother Wound, House of Kwa, She is Haunted, The Newcomer
2021
single work
review
— Appears in: Kill Your Darlings [Online] , July 2021;
— Review of The Mother Wound 2021 single work autobiography ; House of Kwa 2021 single work autobiography ; She Is Haunted 2021 selected work short story ; The Newcomer 2021 single work novel
-
Books Roundup : The Mother Wound, House of Kwa, She is Haunted, The Newcomer
2021
single work
review
— Appears in: Kill Your Darlings [Online] , July 2021;
— Review of The Mother Wound 2021 single work autobiography ; House of Kwa 2021 single work autobiography ; She Is Haunted 2021 selected work short story ; The Newcomer 2021 single work novel -
A Family Ripped Apart
2021
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 10 July 2021; (p. 14)
— Review of The Mother Wound 2021 single work autobiography 'Amani Haydar’s deeply personal account of her mother’s desperate attempt to escape a violent marriage is brave and powerful, writes Paige Taylor Growing up in western Sydney in the 1990s with her parents and her three siblings, Amani Haydar admired her father for his smarts and his work ethic. She and her dad would laugh and laugh together. She also says she went to bed some nights hearing her mum shout and cry in the background. It could be the beginning of a skilful escalation, if this was a crime novel.' (Introduction) -
A Siphon for Fury
2021
single work
review
— Appears in: Sydney Review of Books , September 2021;
— Review of The Mother Wound 2021 single work autobiography -
In 'The Mother Wound', Amani Haydar Comes to grips with the Insidiousness of Domestic Abuse
2021
single work
column
— Appears in: ABC News [Online] , June 2021;'Amani Haydar should have been tucked up in bed that Monday night in March 2015, her arms wrapped protectively around her pregnant belly, her first baby. Instead, she found herself sitting in a dingy interview room at Kogarah police station, preparing to give a statement about why, just a few hours earlier, her father had killed his wife of 28 years and Haydar's mother, Salwa.' (Introduction)
-
y
At Home with Amani Haydar
Astrid Edwards
(interviewer),
Melbourne
:
Bad Producer Productions
,
2021
23449473
2021
single work
podcast
interview
'Amani Haydar is an artist, lawyer and advocate for women's health and safety. Her devastating and yet hopeful debut is The Mother Wound.
'Amani experienced the unimaginable when she lost her mother in a brutal act of domestic violence perpetrated by her father. Writing with grace and beauty in The Mother Wound, Amani shares the stories of her mother and grandmother to help other survivors find their voices.
'Amani was a finalist in the 2018 Archibald Prize, and she uses visual art and writing to explore the personal and political dimensions of abuse, loss, identity and resilience.' (Production introduction)
-
The White Gaze and Brown Rage in Australian Literature
2021
single work
essay
— Appears in: Meanjin Online 2021; Meanjin , Summer vol. 80 no. 4 2021;'It was at a March 2002 camp at the Sydney Academy of Sport and Health where I overheard Steve Jones, who was awarded dux that year, talking about my family.' (Introduction)
Awards
- 2022 shortlisted Victorian Premier's Literary Awards — The Nettie Palmer Prize for Non-Fiction
- 2021 shortlisted Walkley Award — Best Non-Fiction Book