Kindling

by Aurora Levins Morales

This new collection of poetry and prose explores the body as a site of pleasure, pain and political struggle. Disabled and chronically ill writer, historian and activist Aurora Levins Morales writes about epilepsy and stroke, the social control of dark skinned women's sexuality and the erotics of chronic fatigue, epigenetics and healing justice, community based science and what it's like to get health care in Cuba.

"Aurora's writing is itself a kind of alchemy, balancing emotional nuance with rich historical context, simultaneously speaking in an intimate, personal voice and for a collective we. She offers us vulnerable, power-filled lyricism that moves the audience to new understandings of their own lives, as she claims her body's pleasure and pain." Patty Berne, Co-founder and Artistic Director, Sins Invalid.

"Medically, “kindling” refers to the way bodies can be sensitized by small, repeated exposures to chemicals or electric shocks. Aurora’s essays and poems about the human body’s responses to oppression describe both the kindling of disease and of consciousness, fragments of tinder that ignite into a blazing awareness of our bodies as sites of struggle and transformation."

Casimira Fuentes O’Neill, M.D.

Genres: Poetry, Disability, Nonfiction, Queer, Disability Studies, Essays, Medicine

224 pages, Paperback

First published April 15, 2013

Reviews

[zara · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Increase the level of solidarity in your life. Surround yourself with people who share your values, so important work together, and have fun. And take your flower remedies.

“Revolution isn’t about radical rhetoric. It’s about making societies built on taking care of each other instead of taking advantage of each other. It’s about putting human dignity and love above profit, the right to good lives ahead of the right to wealth.”

In Kindling, Aurora Morales Levins writes about her experiences accessing holistic medicine and healthcare in Cuba and talks about the ways that the experiences of our ancestors and our own experiences can cause physical pain and environmental illness that often can’t be otherwise explained. “Society has written deep into each strand of tissue of every living person on earth,” she writes.

I most enjoyed “Healing Justice and the Potential for Community Based Science,” which I found is included on the Transform Harm website, making it even easier to send out and around to friends.

[Fei · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing! I learned so much from this book about chronic illness and the possibility of alternatives to our medical system. Inspired to continue building relationships and spaces where we can care for each other.

[Sophie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed and learned from this book, I love that it is accessible theory. Her writing on environmental illness, accessibility, and the many limits of the US health care system is really important. I read it in a great class and she even skyped in with us and shared more wisdom.

[Dallas Thornley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like the way this book is written. It has a very personal rhythm with short stories, journal entries, and poems throughout. Morales holds the title of a lifelong chronically ill, Jewish, Puerto Rican woman who has had experience in US hospitals her entire life, and is able to give the perspective of a two-month long stay in the socialist (AH!) Cuban medical system. The vast difference in treatment (as well as miraculous results) is pretty astonishing to read. I've suspected and claimed we have it wrong, but this book is a strong contender for excellent proof of concept. What an interesting and brave journey to proudly expose to the world. It's an easy read and an important one.

[Theresa Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short but fascinating book of essays written by someone experiencing disability and reflecting upon the environmental and social influences in creating disability. The story of her activist family emerges here and I learned about the author’s work with some alternative disability groups. Fascinating account of health care in Cuba vs. US.

[Susan Raffo]

Kindling Writings on the Body
Aurora Levins Morales
Palabrera Press

Here is the myth - our bodies are separate, from each other, from the land, from generations of history. There is no separation, there is only the difference between love and violence and then there is its impact.

Kindling Writings on the Body, Aurora Levins Morales’ recent book, builds on the legacy of Medicine Stories and Remedios to be within this difference between love and violence and its impact, in this case, the story of one body experiencing multiple levels of chronic pain. In Aurora’s writing, there is only clarity - the weaving together of legacies of indigenous genocide and the institution of slavery, gender violence and violence directed towards the land, air and water into the collective impact of pain.

Using poetry, personal essay and thoughtful research, Kindling asks hard questions about our shared responsibility for generations of violence and its impact on so many of those we love. In four sections, Kindling’s first half looks at the broader context of healing justice and wellness and Aurora’s personal experience of illness and pain while the second half offers examples of transformation. In the midst of fights over Obamacare, Aurora’s section on the medical support she received in Cuba is like the stuff of fairytales. All of the tiresome cliched conversations about healthcare in the US - arguments over the cost and who should pay for it, over the impact of research, and over the value of integrative care are collapsed into one profound experience that puts the individual at the center of a community of care that only the wealthiest in the US can afford.

The final chapter, selections presented as part of Sins Invalid, demonstrate the power of art and art-making to literally change the world, where suffering and pleasure are part of how we know ourselves and where illness is something we can hold together as a community.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the last book I had to read for one of my classes this past semester. I wasn't a big fan of some of the poetry in this book, but I did enjoy reading the essays, particularly about her time in Cuba and the differences between the U.S. and Cuban health care systems.

[Mills College Library]

Biog L6658L 2013