A subversive new anthology of speculative memoir about misbehaving bodies by women writers, from indie publisher Boudicca Press.

“Inhabiting a body is an inherently strange thing.”– VERITY HOLLOWAY, from her introduction

From illness to major medical operations, child-bearing to pain and chronic illness to disability, Disturbing the Body sets out to explore the many ways women feel powerless and at odds with their own bodies. In a dozen stories reflecting memoir, experience and body horror, this is an anthology full of heart that is not for the faint-hearted.

Disturbing the Body features stories from Irenosen Okojie, winner of the Betty Trask Award, and Verity Holloway, author of Pseudotooth, Caine Prize shortlistee and Curtis Brown First Novel prize winner Chikodili Emelumadu, prize-winning drama and fiction writer Abi Hynes and artist, writer and psychologist Louise Kenward and more, all by writers who identify as women.

Each piece is deeply personal, seeking the subversion of traditional memoir in search of the myriad truths about the physical self. Raw, powerful and often dreamlike in nature, these remarkable stories are unflinching as they reflect complex experiences of women’s bodies.

Following a successful Kickstarter campaign throughout Summer 2020, Disturbing the Body is the eagerly awaited follow-up to Boudicca Press’ successful first book Disturbing the Beast, a collection of weird fiction by writers such as Kirsty Logan, Rosie Garland and more.