On the Way Home

Conversations Between Writers and Psychoanalysts

Literature was present at the birth of psychoanalysis. When Freud made his momentous discovery of the Oedipus complex within himself and his patients, he recognised that this psychic configuration had already been depicted in Sophocles's tragedy. The father of psychoanalysis wrote "The poets and philosophers before me discovered the unconscious... What I discovered was only the scientific method by which the unconscious might be studied". On the Way Home is a collection of public dialogues which bring together authors whose work similarly provokes recognition and resonance in the minds of readers; analysts with a professional and passionate interest in the unconscious and a wish to learn from writers; and a wide audience of people interested in literature and psychoanalysis. The dialogues intend to forge links between psychoanalysis and other disciplines, including the physical and the social sciences, history and literature. They are held at the Institute of Psychoanalysis and attract a wide audience.