Ootlin
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Summary
LONGLISTED FOR THE GORDON BURN PRIZE 2025
‘Ootlin is proof that there is part of [Fagan] that is always whole, tapped into the cosmos, looking towards the light’ TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT
‘A poetic work, impressionistically evoking harrowing and joyous experiences alike’ I PAPER
‘Stunning and powerful’ SCOTS MAGAZINE
The government told a story about me before I was born.
Jenni Fagan was property of the state before birth. She drew her first breath in care and by the age of seven, she had lived in fourteen different homes and had her name changed multiple times.
Twenty years after her first attempt to write this powerful memoir, Jenni is finally ready to share her account.
Ootlin is a journey through the broken UK care system – it is one of displacement and exclusion, but also of the power of storytelling. It is about the very human act of making meaning from adversity.
‘Beautiful, deep, transfixing … it will burn a home in your heart’ LEMN SISSAY
‘Essential reading, life-changing’ SAMANTHA MORTON
‘Should be required reading’ CLAIRE FULLER
‘A book that made me want to reach through the pages and help’ DOUGLAS STUART
‘An astonishing piece of work’ NIALL GRIFFITHS
‘Ootlin is proof that there is part of [Fagan] that is always whole, tapped into the cosmos, looking towards the light’ TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT
‘A poetic work, impressionistically evoking harrowing and joyous experiences alike’ I PAPER
‘Stunning and powerful’ SCOTS MAGAZINE
The government told a story about me before I was born.
Jenni Fagan was property of the state before birth. She drew her first breath in care and by the age of seven, she had lived in fourteen different homes and had her name changed multiple times.
Twenty years after her first attempt to write this powerful memoir, Jenni is finally ready to share her account.
Ootlin is a journey through the broken UK care system – it is one of displacement and exclusion, but also of the power of storytelling. It is about the very human act of making meaning from adversity.
‘Beautiful, deep, transfixing … it will burn a home in your heart’ LEMN SISSAY
‘Essential reading, life-changing’ SAMANTHA MORTON
‘Should be required reading’ CLAIRE FULLER
‘A book that made me want to reach through the pages and help’ DOUGLAS STUART
‘An astonishing piece of work’ NIALL GRIFFITHS
Reviews
With punchy prose and a harrowing story of staggering resilience and fortitude, Fagan's memoir should be required reading
Claire Fuller
