Focus: Mark Hammond

Who are you?
Mark Hammond. I’m a Psychotherapist working with adults and children; an Occupational Therapist Assistant working with clients who have suffered a brain injury; a musician who releases music under Mark James Hammond and the Slender Blind; a dad to Matilda and for the purposes of what I’m shilling today, I am an author. 

What is it you do?
I’m a Renaissance Man. A Polymasterofnowt with a dab hand holding a hired gun. For the purposes of what I’m vending today, I write. Ive published poems, essays, stories and now I’m publishing a book that is placed in the Philosophy section of the library (la-dee-da).

How long have you been doing it for?
I was first published in a poetry anthology at the age of 9. I wrote a piece called FEAR and it had the opening line ‘Tarantula, tarantula up a girl’s skirt, tarantula, tarantula, OUCH, that hurt!’

Building on this preternatural talent, I embarked on the writer’s life. I didn’t have a bindle on my shoulder, jazz slang on my tongue nor a boxcar to catch, but I had plenty of hours alone and Microsoft Office 365.

I have a BA in Creative Writing and for years I have lived within a solid encasement, hewn from the, dare I say, twenty billion rejections that have been slung at me by tasteless hacks and the washed up jealous alike. Writing, proper writing, is lonely and exhausting. I can think of, dare I say, twenty gentler ways of giving yourself an ulcer.

I’ve kept at it for about 30 years and I have had some small triumphs; poems published in/on various platforms. I’ve had essays printed. I’ve had my work featured as part of the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival. The United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy has published my work. I’ve done OK. In 2023 though I was offered a publishing deal for my book, Victims, Aren’t We All? To be honest, literary superstardom couldn’t have come at a better time.

What inspires you?
Writers and thinkers who inspire me include Joseph Campbell, Jung, Marion Woodman, Christopher Bollas, James Hollis, Benjamin Myers, Murakami, Dickens, yadda yadda. All that stuff that comes in the ‘White Male Writer’ starter pack, probably.

What really inspires me is way more important. I’m hugely inspired by the relationships I have been fortunate enough to develop with clients. Brain-injured children who are just trying to find some regulation during their day. Children and young adults trying to rebuild their lives after a road traffic incident. Their families who are so incredibly stretched and exhausted. Adults who come to me for therapy – all with the commonality of Capitalism cleaving at their day to day lives – wondering how on Earth they’re supposed to cope. 

That’s what Victims, Aren’t We All? is about and who it is for. During Covid, yes, many of us came together. Sometimes we even banged a pan in unison (bung? Bonged?). But in sharing in a pandemic (like Capitalism) we all fell foul of diminished empathy for others a lot of the time. Looking around and observing how we all reacted to this Collective Trauma inspired this work.  It’s my belief that only in reckoning with our individual Shadow (the parts of ourselves we don’t like/renounce) can we truly reckon with the shadow of Individualism that Neoliberalism has poured kerosene on for decades, bifurcating us all along the lines of the so-called ‘Culture Wars’. I truly hope my book succeeds in shining a light on what are oftentimes our psychological responses to such overarching pressures, threat and dread and nudging the reader towards a path of reflection and empathy – as much for themselves as for others.

Or it might make a nice Christmas present for your loved ones. 

What have you got coming up?
I’m working with some amazing people including Opt Indie Books to try to generate as much publicity for the book as possible. I’m hoping to get my book EVERYWHERE because I think it would resonate with most people. I feel like people within the mental healthcare sector/charities and academia would find it very useful. So I’m working hard trying to network and shmooze. I’d love to guest on panels and do talks at festivals. I’d also like to record an audiobook version. I’ve booked a launch night at the Staiths Cafe for Saturday 6th September. I will do a signing and answer any questions/perform tricks/denigrate myself for sales. There will be nibbles and drinks available.

Where can people find out more about you?
@blissingsindisguise on Insta /blissingsindisguise.com

My book is available for preorder at all the main vendors like Waterstones and Amazon.
Victims, Aren’t We All? by Mark Hammond | Waterstones