''The Panopticon'' is a novel published in 2012 by

Jenni Fagan Dr Jenni Fagan (born 1977) is a Scottish novelist and poet. She has written several books including fiction novel '' The Panopticon,'' screenplays and several books of poetry. She was named Scottish writer of the year 2016 by ''The Glasgow Her ...

Synopsis

The novel is about a 15-year-old girl called Anais who grows up in care and is trapped by the care and criminal justice systems in the UK. However she is intelligent and imaginative, and creates a rich fantasy world, and dreams of possible other lives for herself. It has a

surrealist Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...

element to the narrative. The author says that the care system acts as a metaphor for the way people conform to structures imposed on them by society and various surveillance measures.

Publication

''The Panopticon'' was written by Jenni Fagan, who was herself brought up in care, when she was 34 years old, and published in 2012.

Reception

It was well-reviewed in several major newspapers in the UK and US, shortlisted for several awards, and translated into at least eight languages by 2019.

Adaptations

In October 2019, the

National Theatre of Scotland The National Theatre of Scotland, established in 2006, is the national theatre company of Scotland. The company has no theatre building of its own; instead it tours work to theatres, village halls, schools and site-specific locations, both at h ...

staged an adaptation of the novel at the

Platform Platform may refer to: Technology * Computing platform, a framework on which applications may be run * Platform game, a genre of video games * Car platform, a set of components shared by several vehicle models * Weapons platform, a system or ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

and the

Traverse Theatre The Traverse Theatre is a theatre in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was founded in 1963 by John Calder, John Malcolm, Jim Haynes and Richard Demarco. The Traverse Theatre company commissions and develops new plays or adaptations from contemporary pla ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

. ''The Panopticon'' was optioned by Sixteen Films,

Ken Loach Kenneth Charles Loach (born 17 June 1936) is a British film director and screenwriter. His socially critical directing style and socialist ideals are evident in his film treatment of social issues such as poverty (''Poor Cow'', 1967), homelessne ...

's film production company. It was in production as of September 2019, with the script written by Fagan and Joe Frost directing, due to be released in 2020. However, there is shown as "in development" on

IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

, with no further information.

References

Scottish novels 2012 British novels Heinemann (publisher) books {{Europe-novel-stub