Runtowardsthedangerepub Apr 2026

: Recounts her time as a teenager playing Alice in a Stratford Festival production while battling scoliosis and intense stage fright. It examines the lack of care she felt as an adolescent after her mother's death.

: The book's central philosophy is that "courage... is not fearlessness but our relationship to fear". Polley argues for moving away from a "protective crouch" toward an examined life. Critical Reception

: Details her high-risk pregnancy with her first daughter, the lack of compassion in medical settings, and her complex relationship with her own deceased mother. RunTowardstheDangerepub

The collection is structured into six long-form pieces that detail various "dangerous stories" from Polley's life:

: Recounts the physical endangerment she faced at age eight on the set of Terry Gilliam’s The Adventures of Baron Munchausen . She reflects on the failure of adults to protect her and the broader issue of child safeguarding in film. : Recounts her time as a teenager playing

: Focuses on her decision not to come forward during the trial of Canadian broadcaster Jian Ghomeshi for sexual assault. She explores the reasons why victims often remain silent and the "imperfect" nature of trauma-affected memory.

: Polley treats memory as a "reciprocal pressure dance" between past and present. She interrogates how her adult perspective allows her to re-examine childhood traumas and find "lighter" ways to carry them. is not fearlessness but our relationship to fear"

Run Towards the Danger: Confrontations with a Body of Memory is a collection of six autobiographical essays by Canadian filmmaker and actor Sarah Polley, published in 2022. The book explores themes of , memory , and the resilience of the female body , framed by a medical philosophy that recovery often requires confronting the very things that cause pain. Summary of Essays