Part long poem, part investigation, this true story begins with a whale encounter and then dives into the affair of the École en bateau, a French countercultural school aboard a boat. The École was based on the ideals of '68, but also twisted ideas about child psychology, Foucault's philosophy and an abolition of the separation between; adults and children. As more troubling details are revealed, the text touches on memory, trauma and environmental grief, ultimately leading to buried echoes from the authors own life and family history. At the dark heart of The Whole Singing Ocean is the question. How is it possible to hold two things-rapture and pain-at once?