I wanted to share a personal essay that I wrote this week, published on my Medium page, entitled, How Fandom Saved Me. This is an essay that started as a blog post that I have been mulling over for a while, so I hope that it is engaging to read (trigger warning: grief and pregnancy loss).
In addition, my book, Las Criaturas, is available for pre-order from Flowersong Press!
Las Criaturas is a hybrid collection that blends poetic and speculative narrative forms to tell stories of untold women. The poems and short stories play with traditional storytelling forms and tales to ruminate on the monstrous, unruly, vulnerable, strength and beauty in the feminine and seek to reclaim people’s power in powerless situations. The book is broken into three sections to show the multifaceted nature of the word “criatura.” In the story, “The Monster” a child in a migrant detention center is haunted by a monster made of her own fear. In “La Mujer Alacran,” a woman who is sexually assaulted transforms into a literal “scorpion woman” in order to protect herself. In “The Inbetween Mother,” a daughter attempts to reunite her selkie mother with her true form. I am excited for people to read it!
I will be announcing scheduled community workshops and readings for my book soon!
Leticia Urieta 