The Return of King Arthur: Finishing the Quest for Wholeness, Inner Strength, and Self-Knowledge

by Diana Durham

A Jungian interpretation of Arthurian myth looks at the two sides of the legends--the Grail Quest and King Arthur, Camelot, and the Round Table--to describe how both a personal quest for wholeness and the collective process intertwine to provide a definitive guide to modern life. 12,500 first printing.

Genres: Arthurian, Psychology

336 pages, Hardcover

First published March 8, 2004

About the author

Diana is a writer and poet who has been involved in the collective life of intentional community in England, the United States and Canada over the past thirty years. In the early 1990’s she was among a grouping who began to explore dialogue and collective intelligence with the late theoretical physicist David Bohm. Those initial conversations became the book: ‘Unfolding Meaning: A weekend of conversation with David Bohm’ (Foundation House Publications). Out of these experiences Diana began a deep inquiry into the possibility that our current ecological crises are reflections of a prevailing dysfunctional sense of identity and consciousness in us as human beings.

These ideas str explored in her novel ‘The Curve of the Land’ published by Skylight Press, as well as in her non-fction book 'The Return of King Arthur: finishing the quest for wholeness' (Tarcher/Penguin), coming to focus in the figure of the Wounded King and the Wasteland Kingdom that is a reflection of his wound found in the grail myth. Diana is also the author of three poetry books 'Sea of Glass' published by the Diamond Press, London, 'To the End of the Night' from Northwoods Press, Maine, winner of their annual competition and ‘Between Two Worlds‘ a collection of sonnets from Chrysalis Poetry, UK.

Her poems have also appeared in numerous magazines in the UK and USA, including 'Orbis', 'Tears in the Fence', ‘Kindred Spirit’, 'Mankato Review', 'Northern New England Review', ‘Parabola’ and Ecozone@:European Journal of Literature, Culture and Environment from Leiden University, The Netherlands, as well as in several anthologies, including ‘Soul of the Earth’ The Awen Anthology of Eco-Spiritual Poetry’ edited by Jay Ramsay, published by Awen Press, UK and 'The 2008 Poets' Guide to New Hampshire' edited by John-Michael Albert, published by the Poetry Society of New Hampshire. Diana also wrote, performed and co-produced an audio-play retelling of the grail myth called ‘Perceval & the Grail’.
Diana is a graduate of University College London, with a BA in English Literature. She was a Visiting Research Associate at the Women’s Studies Research Center, Brandeis in 2011. Diana, her husband and two children are British, but have lived in the USA for the past 20 years. They own a production company that makes documentaries, dramas, commercials. One of the projects developed for Discovery Channel involved extensive research into the megalithic sites of Britain, some of which forms the backdrop for ‘The Curve of the Land’.

Reviews

[Kayoc · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit like reading a thesis paper. Some of the analogies seemed like a bit of at stretch.