Cusp: Feminist Writing on Bodies, Myth & Magic

by Jane Hartshorn (Editor), Katrina Millar (Editor), Rosalind Reynolds-Grey (Editor)

Cusp: feminist stories, essays and poetry exploring bodies, myth and magic.

Ache asked writers to explore the ways in which illness and pain cause estrangement from one's own body - and Cusp was born. This is a daring collection brimming with feminist essays, stories and poems that are strange and surprising. Bodies grow and transform into new shapes, new beings and new identities. Houses and hospitals suffocate. A witch fights for suffrage. A doctor behaves cruelly. A patient is forced to commit strange acts. An angel checks her emails. Bodies bruise, bleed, overflow and misbehave.

Featuring the absurd, the surreal, body horror and speculative fiction, Cusp articulates the experiences of transformation, shape-shifting, and border-crossing that are inherent in illness. Cusp asks what happens when our bodies become strange to ourselves and the world.

Including writing from Sharlene Teo, Memoona Zahid, Emma Glass, Elizabeth Kim, Kirstie Millar, Rochelle Roberts, Rose Higham-Stainton, Sarah Fletcher, Rebecca Tamás, Alice Tarbuck, Ellie Slee, Rosalind Reynolds-Grey, Amanda Holiday, Jane Hartshorn and Camilla Grudova.

Brought to you by Ache: an intersectional feminist publisher exploring illness, health, bodies and pain.

Genres: Poetry, Essays, Short Stories, Feminism, Nonfiction, Disability

107 pages, Paperback

First published January 31, 2021

Reviews

[Liv · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 2.5

Cusp is a collection of essays, stories and poetry about women's bodies, illness, myth and magic. I was hopeful and intrigued by this title but ultimately I found myself a little disappointed in the final reading. Some of these contributions felt too abstract, too incoherent and not tight enough in structure. I'm all for transcending the boundaries of reality, but something just missed with this collection and that was a disappointment for me.

[Joanna Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

a really wide range of interesting, sometimes spooky, personal, beautiful writing on pain, illness, bodies and feminism. definitely mythical and magical vibes ! most of it was really great and thought provoking, I really enjoyed the mix of short stories, poetry, and short nonfic offerings.

quite a bit of the the fiction felt a bit like, ok I get it you read Paradise Rot and/or The Undying, and some of the feminism felt lazy. I kind of found myself wishing it had MORE range as a lot of it felt like it came from a similar perspective (both stylistically but also re:intersectionality)? but all in all a very worthwhile read of a collection that offers a lot interesting frames for important content.

(also the last piece in the book was a gut punch, so sad)

[Juliano · Rating 4 out of 5]

“In the distance, I see a glorious figure. Beautiful and red. She is burning.” Cusp is a new anthology from the brilliant editors of Ache Magazine, collecting ‘feminist writings on bodies, myth and magic’. Explorations of “becoming unfamiliar” populate its pages; opening with short fiction, it treats us to Camilla Grudova’s surreal horror in ‘I Have Five Rooms’; to Kirstie Millar’s ‘The Surgery’, evocative of The Yellow Wallpaper, but even more bodily + horrific; to Jane Hartshorn’s brief piece ‘Spilling’ on illness and residue; and to Sharlene Teo’s ‘I Can Change!’, with female bodily difference as power, magic. The middle section is comprised of poetry; a poem from Rebecca Tamás’ WITCH, a pair of vivid poems by Alice Tarbuck, Amanda Holiday’s poem of a divine female body and Memoona Zahid’s contemplation of pain as ‘A Fluorescent Feeling’. Then, closing with non-fiction, the incomparable Emma Glass on bruises; Rosalind Reynolds-Grey (whose work in Ache always stands out) on the in-between spaces of hallucinations; Rochelle Roberts on art and stomach sickness; Rose Higham-Stainton on grace and limitations imposed on women; Elizabeth Kim on the sometimes-spiritual side of migraine; Sarah Fletcher with thoughts on fleeing pain; and a final, beautiful, heartbreaking essay, with Ellie Slee recounting a friend’s experience of sickness + pain, through her own lens of grief. A thoughtful, provocative, stunningly designed volume, tied together with Nell Brookfield’s art, Cusp is an absolute must-read for writing on female bodies and pain.

[Erin Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

"𝘔𝘺 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘨𝘯𝘢𝘸 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘨𝘯𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦" - Memoona Zahid.

Tw: pain, illness, mental health

Cusp is a collection of feminist stories, essays, and poetry exploring bodies, illness, magic, and myth. It is a difficult read as it takes you on a journey of the surreal, absurd, horrifying, magical and sometimes comforting moments and emotions associated with our bodies, illness, and pain.

[Geo Griffiths · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short volume offers a bite-size nibble of different writers’ works. Nothing felt long enough to get stuck into, but I enjoyed the variety of short stories, poetry and non-fiction writing and would be a good book to take on a short trip or keep in your bag for a bookish snack :)

[Emma Norris · Rating 5 out of 5]

bloody beautiful.