Free-Dive: A Neurodivergent Autoethnographic Study of the Watery World, and a Critical Dissertation about its Composition in the Context of New Nature Writing and the Work of Kathleen Jamie and Kyo Maclear

Abstract

The thesis is presented in two parts: a book of creative non-fiction and a supporting critical dissertation. The creative element takes the form of ten essays, all based on my experiential fieldwork visiting islands and their bodies of water primarily within the region of the North Atlantic. As a mode of ‘practice research’, the essays function as autoethnography, travel and nature writing, meditating on what it means to me to visit and engage with such spaces as a neurodivergent woman. The concept of deep time, of interconnection, of travelling through the imagination, and my emotional connection to the ocean, grew out of my desire to listen and record my interactions with islands as places to share embodied experiences with island life and landscape. A literature review and archival research support my field research. I coin the term ‘hydrofemography’, which takes its lead from Astrida Neimanis’ sense of hydrofeminism, in order to document my derives or drifts, in which I’m connected to the water: swimming, freediving and mudlarking through it, or, watching the more-than-human engaging with it: arctic fox, sea grass, crabs, geese, whale, kelp. In the critical dissertation, I further emphasise my compositional process and context, exploring the ‘new nature writing’ genre and, in particular, the works of Kathleen Jamie and Kyo Maclear.

Awarding Institution(s)

University of Plymouth

Supervisor

Anthony Caleshu, Miriam Darlington

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Date

2026

Embargo Period

2027-06-04

Deposit Date

June 2026

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

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This item is under embargo until 04 June 2027

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