On First Looking into Barbara Hanrahan’s Diaries: ‘The Terrible Creative Task’

Abstract

A diary entry, written by Hanrahan when she was 41 years old and well into her career as an artist and writer opens the way into a discussion of the way in which Hanrahan viewed her self, her creativity, and her responsibility to God and the world. The complexity of the statement encourages a creative response and that is what I propose here - a peregrination through Barbara Hanrahan's diaries looking at the way she constructed self, creativity and spiritual purpose.