Bubbles

Bubbles offer a lens through which to view the world, a rainbow-esque diffraction through which whatever is on the other side of them is visible, yet transformed. Bubbles is Laura Bissell's compelling and honest account of her early experiences of motherhood, a journey that began in September 2018 with the birth of her daughter and which was, just over a year later, interrupted by the onset of coronavirus and the national lockdowns and global devastation that followed. Insightful and personal, Bubbles considers womanhood, motherhood and reflects on what it means to become a mother. Bissell also explores the intimate yet isolating experience of parenting in a 'bubble' with a small child during a pandemic, and the challenges for families as family networks and support systems became suddenly inaccessible. Bissell invites us to witness her transformation from non-mother to mother, as well as her perception of the ways in which the world has been and is likely to continue to be transformed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr Laura Bissell is a writer, academic, performance-researcher and mother. She is Interim Head of Contemporary Performance Practice and Lecturer in Research at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. She was a visiting lecturer on the MRes in Creative Practices at Glasgow School of Art from 2012-2018 and taught on the Transart Institute MFA in Berlin. She has a PhD, an MPhil by Research and a first-class degree in English Literature and Theatre Studies. Laura has had her poetry, creative writing and academic writing published in journals and anthologies.