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Medusae
A girl is born every hour.
Goodbye, says the mother.
Who are you? asks the father.
Every hour, a new curse is
unleashed upon the world.
***
Once upon a time, in a near yet far-off place, a child sprung into being. Her misadventures, mysterious and absurd, are recounted here as poems. Accompanied by black-and-white illustrations from award-winning artist Nadiyah Rizki S, Medusae is a reincarnation of the myths, legends, and folklore passed down over the past three centuries—from Lilith to the Queen of Hearts to Medusa, the famed Gorgon herself.
Goodbye, says the mother.
Who are you? asks the father.
Every hour, a new curse is
unleashed upon the world.
***
Once upon a time, in a near yet far-off place, a child sprung into being. Her misadventures, mysterious and absurd, are recounted here as poems. Accompanied by black-and-white illustrations from award-winning artist Nadiyah Rizki S, Medusae is a reincarnation of the myths, legends, and folklore passed down over the past three centuries—from Lilith to the Queen of Hearts to Medusa, the famed Gorgon herself.
- GenresPoetry
168 pages, Paperback
First published April 26, 2021
7 people are currently reading
57 people want to read
About the author
Theodora Sarah Abigail
3 books13 followersTheodora Sarah Abigail is a beating heart in a warm body, and prefers to be called Ebi. She loves drinking tea and making beautiful things with her hands. You can find her on Twitter as @hellohonebi and on Instagram as @theodorasarahabigail.
She is entirely, absolutely ordinary.
She is entirely, absolutely ordinary.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
May 31, 2021
This review is taken from my IG bookstagram @descanto
The society tend to forget those powerful women recorded in the history. A she-wolf and a powerful woman are always a threat. Those types of women are always sacrificed and weakened for perpetuating the system that favours men.
Society also gives a small space which allows the women to grow. This space is getting smaller because they often see other women as a threat. They don't understand the necessity to stand for each other. The lesbian continuum which Rich keeps glorifying doesn’t really exist in the society.
There’s no difference when it comes to the arenas of literature or myths. Women are often depicted with the Cinderella syndrome, an independent creature who will prolly crawl over men's bed and being so clingy in the next second. See how they weaken the women here?
Medusae is not without an exception, a powerful creature in Greek myth with the living venomous snakes in place of hair. Others will turn to stone whenever they gaze into her eyes. She is executed and dragged as victim when she’s beheaded by Perseus. They cannot stand on the power she holds as a woman. Little did we know, she still remains so powerful until the end of her life by being a shield for Perseus.
Thus a lit. work which gives spaces (only) to women without attach them to any (patriarchal) label like Ebi’s Medusae is really a fresh air in the Indonesian lit. Reading this collection of poems is like going through a journey as a woman. People need to know what a woman has been through from her first day as a child, while she's growing up as a teenager then a woman to the day she dies. It’s okay for women to possess love and lust because they’re also a human. It's natural for them to feel so. And this is what makes the book captivating: to see that those qualities in women are the symbols of strengths.
What can we say? This is the world we are living in, a doxa in our society: a man who sleeps around is always considered as a stud when women are always portrayed as a slut for conducting the same behaviour. Does it sound fair to you?
Do I have to say more but to highlight the urge to own more books that give voice to women like Ebi's Medusae? Grab yours! It's worth reading!
The society tend to forget those powerful women recorded in the history. A she-wolf and a powerful woman are always a threat. Those types of women are always sacrificed and weakened for perpetuating the system that favours men.
Society also gives a small space which allows the women to grow. This space is getting smaller because they often see other women as a threat. They don't understand the necessity to stand for each other. The lesbian continuum which Rich keeps glorifying doesn’t really exist in the society.
There’s no difference when it comes to the arenas of literature or myths. Women are often depicted with the Cinderella syndrome, an independent creature who will prolly crawl over men's bed and being so clingy in the next second. See how they weaken the women here?
Medusae is not without an exception, a powerful creature in Greek myth with the living venomous snakes in place of hair. Others will turn to stone whenever they gaze into her eyes. She is executed and dragged as victim when she’s beheaded by Perseus. They cannot stand on the power she holds as a woman. Little did we know, she still remains so powerful until the end of her life by being a shield for Perseus.
Thus a lit. work which gives spaces (only) to women without attach them to any (patriarchal) label like Ebi’s Medusae is really a fresh air in the Indonesian lit. Reading this collection of poems is like going through a journey as a woman. People need to know what a woman has been through from her first day as a child, while she's growing up as a teenager then a woman to the day she dies. It’s okay for women to possess love and lust because they’re also a human. It's natural for them to feel so. And this is what makes the book captivating: to see that those qualities in women are the symbols of strengths.
What can we say? This is the world we are living in, a doxa in our society: a man who sleeps around is always considered as a stud when women are always portrayed as a slut for conducting the same behaviour. Does it sound fair to you?
Do I have to say more but to highlight the urge to own more books that give voice to women like Ebi's Medusae? Grab yours! It's worth reading!
October 10, 2022
haunting poems and gorgeous illustrations. so much of it made me want to scream my lungs out while running with my feet naked, forget my name and go apeshit. the words are sharp edges most of the time, but comforting regardless, like they are nurturing the monster inside of you, the wounded child you have been trying to ignore your whole life, and ease your guilt for having them. some of these poems might hard to understand, unrelatable and confusing, but my advice is i hope you read it until the end, and the afterword written by the author too. some of those confusing poems will fall into place. and that illustration in the end? i cried when i looked at it.
you don't have to be a giant to rule the world
you can spit thoughts into your hands and
spoilt the body with them. you can catch the
hope and spread it onto your self and eat raspberries
with whipped cream and flourish like chilled
wonder, in the place only angels dream about
you don't have to be a giant to rule the world
you can spit thoughts into your hands and
spoilt the body with them. you can catch the
hope and spread it onto your self and eat raspberries
with whipped cream and flourish like chilled
wonder, in the place only angels dream about
May 19, 2021
I pre-ordered this karena judul dan ilutrasi sampulnya yang menarik. (I know, we're not supposed to judge a book by its cover. Tapi sebagai pecinta mitologi Yunani, cukup dengan itu aku bisa terpikat sama buku ini. Jadi, nggak perlu mikir panjang untuk beli, hehe). Menurutku, sebagian puisi di dalamnya cukup sulit untuk dipahami dan kurang 'ngena' di hati. Mungkin pemilihan kosakata yang tidak umum yang jadi penyebabnya. Bagi orang dengan bahasa ibu selain Bahasa Inggris, mungkin akan sulit untuk mengerti maksud yang ingin disampaikan penulis dalam puisi-puisinya. But overall, I enjoyed the book. Aku suka puisi-puisi yang ditulis dengan gaya storytelling. It was tough but quite fun to read. Such a challenging poetry book for me. Kudos to the author (and the illustrator)!
April 28, 2021
It's my own book, of course I'm going to give it 5 stars... LOL.
Anyways! The book features many beautiful, breathtaking illustrations by Nadiyah, a dear friend of mine. It meant the world to me when she said she could relate to its story and form; she is beyond lovely, and Medusae and I are blessed.
Another friend of mine said that Medusae is very different from Mischievous God, and I agree. It is highly experimental, and I struggle to categorize it. Perhaps it could be called a narrative poem, or a novel made up of poems. It went through more than fifteen rounds of edits and revisions between 2018 and 2021; at one point, I was ready to give up. I am glad I didn’t.
Medusae is heavily inspired by the Grimm’s Fairy Tales and Greek and Roman mythology; they are what I read growing up. At its core, this book is another fairy tale to add to your collection. And just like every myth and legend in the world, it is about a woman.
I wrote in Mischievous God that it is very hard to be a woman. We are called to be constantly perfect, lovely, and delicate. Through our stories, we condemn women who cannot be tamed, transforming them into monsters and murderers.
I think nothing in this world is as frightening as a woman, and that is why the world always seeks to destroy her.
Medusae is a book that seeks to empower women and create an irrefutable space for their horror and fearsome, awe-inducing power. I wanted to refute the idea that women are burdens and curses to be traded away to some unfortunate family. Remember: a curse and a promise are two sides of the same coin.
Anyways! The book features many beautiful, breathtaking illustrations by Nadiyah, a dear friend of mine. It meant the world to me when she said she could relate to its story and form; she is beyond lovely, and Medusae and I are blessed.
Another friend of mine said that Medusae is very different from Mischievous God, and I agree. It is highly experimental, and I struggle to categorize it. Perhaps it could be called a narrative poem, or a novel made up of poems. It went through more than fifteen rounds of edits and revisions between 2018 and 2021; at one point, I was ready to give up. I am glad I didn’t.
Medusae is heavily inspired by the Grimm’s Fairy Tales and Greek and Roman mythology; they are what I read growing up. At its core, this book is another fairy tale to add to your collection. And just like every myth and legend in the world, it is about a woman.
I wrote in Mischievous God that it is very hard to be a woman. We are called to be constantly perfect, lovely, and delicate. Through our stories, we condemn women who cannot be tamed, transforming them into monsters and murderers.
I think nothing in this world is as frightening as a woman, and that is why the world always seeks to destroy her.
Medusae is a book that seeks to empower women and create an irrefutable space for their horror and fearsome, awe-inducing power. I wanted to refute the idea that women are burdens and curses to be traded away to some unfortunate family. Remember: a curse and a promise are two sides of the same coin.
July 17, 2021
The poems somehow remind me about that time when i kind of losing myself. When i chose to hide from people, from reality. And somehow, it also give me a realization, that, this is my reality.
The dictions was beautiful, so many unfamiliar words but love it anyway.
The dictions was beautiful, so many unfamiliar words but love it anyway.
May 12, 2021
a new contemporary masterpiece
May 28, 2021
Good poems. Beautiful illustrations. Waves & Riverbed were two of my faves in this book.
August 27, 2025
I love the artwork but a lot of the poems I read twice and still not understand the meaning of it.
May 18, 2021
Bagiku, aku menemukan beberapa puisi sulit ku pahami. Baik dari pilihan katanya maupun ketika ia sudah dirangkai menjadi bait-bait. Tapi ada juga puisi yang disusun dengan begitu indah.
Ilustrasi di dalamnya juga cantik!
Ilustrasi di dalamnya juga cantik!
May 12, 2021
Bagus covernya
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews