Swollening

• In Swollening, Jason Purcell (they/them) documents their relationship to queerness and chronic illness which has informed much of their adult life. Jason suffers from stomach-related issues that have yet to be properly diagnosed; the title refers not only to the physical manifestations of illness but also the psychological impact of homophobia and heteronormativity, resulting in a “body in revolt.”

• In Jason’s own words: “I started writing this book as I was working on my Master’s thesis, while experiencing sickness and pain that doctors weren’t able to diagnose, and while I was looking for another way of thinking through and writing about illness, seeking the logics of sickness that prose didn’t allow me. I wanted to explore not only the feelings of illness but perhaps attempt to theorize it for myself, to imagine potential connections between the effects of my environment on my physical feelings of safety, health, and well-being.”

• Two-time Lambda Literary Award winner Joshua Whitehead (Jonny Appleseed) is the editor of Swollening. In addition to Joshua, Jason counts among their influences Billy-Ray Belcourt (particularly his confidence bringing a theoretical inflection to his poetry), Anne-Marie Turza (form and use of language), K.B. Thors, Lauren Turner (a poetics of sickness), John Elizabeth Stintzi, Ocean Vuong, and Canisia Lubrin.

• Blurb already provided by Vivek Shraya; others by Alex Dimitrov, Leah Horlick, and K.B. Thors to follow.

• Jason is the co-owner of Glass Bookshop in Edmonton, one of the best new indie bookstores in Canada.

© 2022 Arsenal Pulp Press (Ebook): 9781551528861

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Ebook: 5 April 2022