MY BODY DIDN’T COME BEFORE ME

In My Body Didn’t Come Before Me, Kuhu Joshi recalls her struggle with spinaldeformity, depression and shame that made it nearly impossible to feel atease in her body. Her verses travel in time between childhood, when she wasdiagnosed with severe scoliosis, and her journey into young adulthood. Theymove between hospitals, schools, gardens and homes in an urgent attemptto reclaim agency. The poet asks: Who is a woman before she becomes just abody? Is there a part of her that isn’t trapped in the limitations of the physicaland the conventions the world sets down for womanhood? The longing forsafety and pleasure that envelops girls and women bonds them to each otherin these poems. Sensual and intense, they explore desires that are sharplyindividual yet deeply universal. The poetic voice is in turns coolly observantand seething with rage. It brings to focus distinct moments from the past thatmay seem small but are defining. Parents, lovers, friends and strangers hauntthe universe of this moving and exquisitely crafted collection. Read more