Heading Vig Gleeson Author of the memoir  Speak Truth Lies, Brand Photographer & Podcaster  Limerick August 2024

SPEAK #TRUTH Lies

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What does grief look like when an estranged parent dies without saying a last farewell?

In Speak #Truth Lies, I confront the complex emotions surrounding my estrangement from my father and how I grieved him after he died. passing. After fifteen years of separation, Vig and her young daughter Ruby arrive on Atlรธy Island to lay her father to rest.

ABOUT VIG

Hi, Iโ€™m Vig, an Irish-Norwegian writer and photographer. At twenty-four I bought a one-way ticket to Australia, never imagining the profound shapeshift the journey would have on my life. Together with my husband and daughter, Iโ€™ve travelled and lived in Norway, Ireland, England, Greece, Spain, France, Portugal, India, Thailand, Kenya, Egypt and more. Today, home is Castleconnell, a village on the banks of The River Shannon, close to Limerick City – where Frank McCourt’s family was from. How’s that for a setting? Our village might be small and often dressed in a grey cloak heavy with rain, but when the veil of mist rises from Shannon’s rapids, as they come towards you, passing below the footbridge – awe inspires wordsmithing. No wonder, you’re standing where the limerick came from.

I lived a long time ‘unconscious’ before I developed the curiosity and passion for understanding my human behaviours & emotions. It was the late 90s, early 00s. I was in my 30s and busy climbing the London .com career leader. Issues were holding me back and my search for a solution brought me books and cassette tape courses. Isn’t it funny how ‘the teacher appears when the student is read’?.
When I learned about how our past impacts our future, I wanted to write everything I remember from my past. Journaling has been part of the air I breathe since I learned to write, but when I discovered that, if I reframe my narrative story, I can also transform my future, it was a game changer.

What lead to my memoir, Speak #TRUTH Lies, was 7 1/2 years of practising the creative act & art of writing as a from of therapy on the page. Going deep with this story that had haunted me and held me back from daring to be myself sometimes turned into a gentle and transformative approach to find my truth and heal from my story.

A podcast for writers and readers of true life stories who love a good memoir. Deep thoughts and conversations about true life stories, writing, reading and snippets from my village life.

What Readers Say

๏ผ‚Dear Vig,
Congrats on your book. Thank you so much for writing it and having it published. I am deeply moved by your work. […] I cried so much when I read the ‘Whore’ chapter. […] Your book opened my eyes and left me full of emotions. Beautiful writing. Canโ€™t wait to read your next one. I will definitely recommend it to my friends and colleagues at school.
What a read! Best, Karin in Austria
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