Conversations

Christopher Bollas proposes ordinary conversation as a distinct literary genre that shares certain formal qualities with poetry, prose, and drama. We converse with others and with ourselves, and he capitalises on the unique irony of this convergence, often to hilarious effect, but with a disturbing undertone that opens new perspectives.

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Christopher Bollas presents us with a new literary form in his Conversations: twenty-three unique dialogues to captivate, amuse, and inspire.



The psychoanalyst Paula Heimann asked: ‘Who is speaking? To whom? About what? And why now?’ We speak with the voice and position of many others – mothers, fathers, siblings, teachers – and ordinary conversation therefore stages the history of our interpersonal engagements. Heimann’s questions also apply when we talk to ourselves, and our inner dialogues reveal the hidden genius of our private world in which we are both actor and audience, poet and reader, politician and electorate. It's quite a ride, and an art form all of its own.