My Body Didn't Come Before Me

In My Body Didn't Come Before Me, Kuhu Joshi recalls her struggle with spinal

deformity, depression and shame that made it nearly impossible to feel at

ease in her body. Her verses travel in time between childhood, when she was

diagnosed with severe scoliosis, and her journey into young adulthood. They

move between hospitals, schools, gardens and homes in an urgent attempt

to reclaim agency. The poet asks: Who is a woman before she becomes just a

body? Is there a part of her that isn't trapped in the limitations of the physical

and the conventions the world sets down for womanhood? The longing for

safety and pleasure that envelops girls and women bonds them to each other

in these poems. Sensual and intense, they explore desires that are sharply

individual yet deeply universal. The poetic voice is in turns coolly observant

and seething with rage. It brings to focus distinct moments from the past that

may seem small but are defining. Parents, lovers, friends and strangers haunt

the universe of this moving and exquisitely crafted collection.