Meeting the Wildness Within with Lauren Keegan

This week on the SWN Podcast, we chat with author and psychologist Lauren Keegan about her latest novel, The Woman in the Seal Skin and dive into the fascinating world of Selkies, mythology, motherhood, grief, violence and the biological impulses that bind us to the natural world.A timeless tale, The Woman in the Seal Skin is set on the Orkney Islands in the late 1600s and follows the story of Malie, a motherless child who has grown up in a cloistered island community and is about to become a mother herself. Our chat today ventures to the depths of how folktales act as a powerful allegory for women’s lives, societal expectations and the generational and systemic patterns of oppression; a theme that is resoundingly relevant today. We also discuss the environmental aspects of the book as well as Lauren’s research process and how her background in perinatal psychology informs her writing practice.Lauren Keegan is a perinatal psychologist, author and host of the podcast, Trust the Process. Her debut historical fiction novel, All The Bees In The Hollows (Affirm Press) was named Best Debut Fiction in the 2025 Indie Book Awards and longlisted for the ARA Historical Novel Prize. Her second novel The Woman in the Seal Skin is out now. Lauren lives with her husband and two daughters on Dharawal and Gundungarra Country (New South Wales). Check out her website, laurenkeeganwriter.com where you can find her books, listen to her podcast, Trust the Process – where psychology meets writing – and subscribe to her monthly newsletter on Substack!As always, a full list of works discussed, links and resources are available on the SWN website. Enjoy this week’s episode!Enjoyed this episode? Share the SWN love!If you liked this episode, leave us a review and share it far and wide. Science Write Now is dedicated to accessibility, connectivity, inspiration and collaboration across disciplines. Our content is free to access and we want to keep it that way, so if you’re keen to be part of this growing community of creative writing inspired by science, hit subscribe!We’ll be back with another episode soon, and more conversations inspired by science and creativity to come!We acknowledge the Jaegara and Turrbal People, Traditional Owners of the land on which this podcast is created, and the unceded cultural lands on which our guests live and continue to make and tell stories.