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.