About me
I’m Geves Lafosse, the author of blog posts, articles and a memoir that examines what it is to continue living as a parent after losing a very loved child. I'm currently working on a novel. Over the last decade I've taught creative writing in prisons, and worked in various settings with children and young people facing mental health, social and family issues, while bringing up my four other children. In 2023 I gained an MA in Creative Writing with distinction from Royal Holloway University (Fiction Pathway), and the novel I’m writing explores the Scottish care system and prison life through the prism of motherhood in complex circumstances - what does it take to change a young person's life trajectory?
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Some of my blog posts and articles date back to earlier stages of grief, to times when people said , 'I can't imagine what you're going through.’ When Petals Fall, was written as something of a response to this statement, and on behalf of others like me. It’s my story, my view on the experience, but I wrote the book hoping that by reading it other bereaved parents (and the people who want to support them) might feel less alone.
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Although I scribbled terrible poetry and the occasional short story in secret notebooks from when I was young, the courage to share anything I’ve written came to me late, and was inspired by my five-year-old daughter's bravery. In the twenty-two years since she died from leukaemia, I’ve had time to contemplate and write about the ways in which her leaving changed everything. I've experienced acute depression, episodes of mania, and a post-therapy reset of my values that prompted a wholesale reconfiguration of my personal relationships. Obviously, I would rather none of this had happened, yet from my experiences has grown a deeper and richer understanding of (and affection for) human nature, which I hope comes through in what I write.
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I grew up in Scotland, but now split my time between Hertfordshire and New Zealand.
You can contact me here.
