The Shape Of Sound

Description

I am still unlearning the habit of secrecy. And yet, whenever somebody discovers that I am deaf, my body still reacts with churning terror. How do you build up a sense of robust pride when your body has taught itself to be fearful? Fiona Murphy's memoir about being deaf is a revelation. Secrets are heavy, burdensome things. Imagine carrying a secret that if exposed could jeopardise your chances of securing a job and make you a social outcast. Fiona Murphy kept her deafness a secret for over twenty-five years. But then, desperate to hold onto a career she'd worked hard to pursue, she tried hearing aids. Shocked by how the world sounded, she vowed never to wear them again. After an accident to her hand, she discovered that sign language could change her life, and that Deaf culture could be part of her identity. Just as Fiona thought she was beginning to truly accept her body, she was diagnosed with a rare condition that causes the bones of the ears to harden. She was steadily losing her residual hearing. The news left her reeling. Blending memoir with observations on the healthcare industry, The Shape of Sound is a story about the corrosive power of secrets, stigma and shame, and how deaf experiences and disability are shaped by economics, social policy, medicine and societal expectations. This is the story of how Fiona learns to listen to her body. If you enjoy the writing of Bri Lee and Fiona Wright, this is a book for you.

Fiona Murphy is a Deaf poet and essayist. Her work has been published in Kill Your Darlings, Overland, Griffith Review and the Big Issue, among other publications. In 2019, she was awarded the Overland Fair Australia Essay Prize and the Monash Undergraduate Creative Writing Prize. In 2018, she was shortlisted for the Richell Prize and highly commended by the Wheeler Centre Next Chapter program.

'I devoured this in a day, fascinated, enlightened, moved.' * Helen Garner * 'In The Shape of Sound Fiona Murphy impressively turns the intimate yet inanimate sense of hearing into a tangible, tactical object to be shared and explored with readers. Through a personal lens, she investigates the social, environmental, economical and political impacts of deafness and disability with rigour, yet without ever losing a pervading humanity. The Shape of Sound is an impressive accomplishment, equally industrious and delicate, and an exciting addition to Australian disability literature.' * Kylie Maslen * 'A unique voice that reveals the world anew. Mark the name Fiona Murphy.' * Bri Lee, author of Eggshell Skull * 'Fiona Murphy is a spectacular writer. Her memoir about keeping a medical secret close, then celebrating disability, Deaf identity and community, highlights the need to remove barriers to access and inclusion. The Shape of Sound is brilliant.' * Carly Findlay, author of Say Hello * 'Powerfully written-books like this restore the world.' * Sarah Krasnostein, author of The Trauma Cleaner * 'A beautifully crafted memoir describing the gifts of a life without sound.' * Jessica White, author of Hearing Maud * 'I have been waiting for Fiona Murphy's debut: a memoir about the lived experience of deafness and a developing understanding of disability as cultural identity. There is no reading The Shape of Sound without wishing that every Australian would read it too.' * Sam Twyford-Moore, author of The Rapids * 'The Shape of Sound is a game-changer, a book that challenges assumptions not only about what it means to be deaf, but what it takes to truly listen, communicate and connect.' * Angela Savage, author of Mother of Pearl * 'The Shape of Sound is an exquisite, eloquent and poetic memoir. Fiona Murphy draws the reader into a different sensory world, and provides a devastating critique of a society that all too often punishes disability. A damn fine read.' * Astrid Edwards, host of Anonymous Was a Woman and The Garret: Writers on Writing * 'Full of heart and delving into what it means to inhabit flesh, blood, sound and movement. The Shape of Sound is definitely a book I will return to over the years, and gain more from with each read. A brilliant debut.' * Katerina Bryant, author of Hysteria * 'The Shape of Sound is about coming of age, and coming to terms with the unseen and unspoken forces that impinge upon a life lived in a disabled or different body. In this utterly gripping book, Murphy writes with candour and elegance, as she challenges how the reader sees the world.' * Fiona Wright, author of The World Was Whole * 'This book is an act of resistance. In her raw and unflinchingly honest memoir, Murphy tells the story of how she overcame shame and secrecy to claim her Deaf identity. An outstanding work and a must read.' * Jax Jacki Brown, disability activist and writer * 'Beautifully written, honest and heartfelt, this is the book I needed years ago, when I was grappling with my own sense of self as a disabled person. As a musician, I was enthralled by how Fiona experiences music, and I marvelled in Fiona's journey to true self-acceptance.' * Eliza Hull, musician, writer and disability advocate * '"Deaf people feel and see sound: the entire body becomes a receptor," Fiona Murphy writes in The Shape of Sound. You will feel and see this book. Every page vibrates with poetry and shines with brilliance. Murphy's gorgeous prose is a doorway to a new world - and we readers are lucky to have her as a guide.' * Sarah Sentilles, author of Draw Your Weapons * 'Fiona Murphy's writing - on the cost of concealment, the exclusion of others, and the mysteries and miracles of the human body - is so astute, generous and perceptive. There's such wisdom here about what we can all learn in the quiet by paying attention.' * Benjamin Law * 'It is vital to read stories like this for their incredible insight, as Murphy navigates stigma, ableism and ideas of disability with reference to public space and her own time in the healthcare industry. The Shape of Sound presents wisdom hard-won through personal transformation, and Murphy's story is compelling, honest and truly revelatory.' * Books+Publishing * 'The Shape of Sound is wondrous...each sentence feels like a poem. It is a pleasure to open Fiona Murphy's book and read her words.' * Anonymous Was a Woman * 'Beautifully written...[gives] profound insight into sound, into the experience of sound and language, in such new and interesting ways.' * Kill Your Darlings * 'Murphy's personal story is one that reaches out to deaf and hearing people alike. It reveals the toils of stigma, the effects on one's identity, the toll it exacts on social life...She shows through her own personal history what it is to carry a secret that impinges on every single interaction, every single day of one's life.' * Australian Book Review * 'A brilliant and touching memoir that completely draws the reader in. Murphy doesn't hold back, and I laughed with her and cried with her. There is complete vulnerability and honesty on every page...devastatingly powerful.' * Readings * 'Murphy writes incisively about the built environment, exploring how our health and wellbeing are significantly impacted by the design of our cities, suburbs and streetscapes. In a repudiation of the shame Murphy felt about her deafness, The Shape of Sound is about gaining deafness through culture and community.' * Melbourne Writers Festival * 'Tender, honest, poetic, and intellectually rigorous all at once. Murphy's ability to blend everyday observation with critical theory and research on disability is a feat. This book punches well above its weight as a memoir - at once personal and political, humorous and serious.' * Better Read Than Dead * '[Fiona Murphy] attends in fascinating detail to the body's autonomy, and the physical stages of sound...The Shape of Sound's compelling approach to sound, society, and disability contains the means to experience the world and the body in a deeper way.' * ArtsHub * 'Murphy's work...[asks] whether society can learn to mediate its needs and aversions, its desires and fears, according to the demands of those whose lives have often been ignored.' * Sydney Morning Herald/Age * 'Murphy's writing is clear, spacious and unaffected, but also contains passages of heartbreaking lyricism...It's an invigorating and thought-provoking achievement, as testimony and as literature.' * Saturday Paper * 'A powerful exploration of how social, political and economic factors shape the way we perceive and engage with disability...Fiona's writing is beautiful and she skilfully breaks down preconceived ideas about sound...Incredibly compelling.' * Good Reading * 'Compelling and insightful...A thoughtful, generous and deeply honest book about sound and silence, secrets and community.' * Weekend West * 'Illuminating and an absolute breath of fresh air...Murphy's attention to detail and her emphasis on language and language choices has really shone a light on how words and intentions matter....This book is such a gift.' * 3RRR * 'The range of imagery, as well as the poetry and precision of Murphy's writing...sparkles like morning light on a diamond ring. The loveliness of her writing does not obscure the seriousness of her subject.' * Jessica White, Sydney Review of Books * 'Murphy writes with great insight and self-reflection.' * Canberra Times * 'Generously, the author shares such personal experiences and takes us on a journey unimaginable to those without hearing loss...those able to address the issues raised should regard this as a blueprint from a truly knowledgeable insider.' * NorDocs Magazine * 'A tenderly written memoir that explores the author's experience of coming to terms with her own deafness, which then forms a lens through which she talks about sound and silence and how our bodies move through the built environment. As a language nerd, I especially loved Murphy's reflection on how Auslan and other signed languages build meaning and nuance through the whole body and its position in space.' * Alan Vaarwerk, Kill Your Darlings * 'The Shape of Sound encourages all readers to consider the ways in which the world embodies belonging, what types of bodies are fully enfranchised and how we can develop our awareness of difference.' * South Sydney Herald *