Autobiography of a Marguerite

by Zarah Butcher-McGunnigle

We are made up of stories, but which ones belong to us? What are the boundaries between our bodies and the outside world? Autobiography of a Marguerite is a profound, book-length poetic work about chronic illness, family dysfunction, and identity, and how they can shape one another. The narrator struggles with the effects of her autoimmune illness, and struggles to separate herself from her troubled mother. A doctor tells the narrator that there is ‘no cause and no cure’ to her ailment, but the book attempts to explore how familial environments might contribute to the development of ill health. Zarah Butcher-McGunnigle’s experimentation with form –overlapping voices, footnotes, fragments, found text and photographs – illustrate the struggle for autonomy and a sense of self, the repressed grief of chronic illness and its disruptive effect on the sufferer’s sense of time’s passage. The poems make visible the often-hidden experience of disability, and the reader becomes both a witness and an actor, piecing together a narrative that challenges what an autobiography can be.

Genres: Poetry

96 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2014

About the author

Zarah Butcher-McGunnigle is the author of Autobiography of a Marguerite (Hue & Cry Press, 2014; Giramondo Publishing, 2026) Nostalgia Has Ruined My Life (Giramondo Publishing, 2021) and Leaves Fall Off To Create Drama (Giramondo Publishing 2026). Originally from Auckland, NZ, she currently lives in Melbourne, Australia.

Reviews

[Vincent Konrad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it so much I'm dating the author!

Keen to read again and make notes so I can be more specific.

[Ella · Rating 5 out of 5]

Date me so I can simply discuss, page by page, in intimate detail, my feelings for this book.

[Daphne Margeridis · Rating 4 out of 5]

"a meditation on pain and illness made strange by close proximity, a child and parent leaking into eachother".

[Magnolia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book because it defies traditional poetic convention, while at the same time allowing moments of more lyrical, poetic play through the quite stark emotional landscape. I love it because it doesn't shy away from sadness or beauty but both of these things are approached in an original way that feels honest. I love it because no story is linear, no family history contains one solid version of truth, and because the beauty and strangeness of family is that we are all made up of one another; biologically, emotionally and spiritually. We have many selves and some of these selves we feel uncomfortable with because maybe they don't belong wholly to us. An amazing book.

[Stacey Teague · Rating 5 out of 5]

a++ would read again (y)

[Roman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Haunting words. Dizzyingly telescoped, intimate, meek, painful femininity.

At two o'clock I'm broccoli, at six o'clock I'm chicken, at eleven o'clock I'm potato.

[Kelvin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant, simply a brilliant book. I couldn't read this book slow enough and purposely delayed the finishing of it. The story was beautifully crafted and left images floating around my head for days.

By far the best poetry to date that I have read.

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Somewhere between 3 & 4 stars from me. It’s a unique work of poetry that raises a lot of questions about relationships within families and the self. An interesting read tho sometimes I felt trying a bit too hard to be unique. Nevertheless still a thought provoking piece with a creative take on language and form, and a really interesting and well written approach. One I’ll come back to.