First published 2023
This anthology brings together fifteen celebrated authors who transform derogatory labels into powerful stories. Margaret Atwood, Emma Donoghue, Ali Smith, and twelve other award-winning writers take words like dragon, she-devil, siren, and fury and build new narratives around them. Each story reclaims terms that have been weaponized against women across cultures and centuries. The collection spans different voices and approaches, united by the bold act of seizing language that was meant to diminish and turning it into something fierce and celebratory. These writers fire up tales that refuse to let harmful words maintain their sting, creating instead an entertaining collection that transforms insults into badges of honor.
Genres: short-stories, literary-fiction, anthologies, feminism
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, reclaimed-identity
Period: 20th-Century, 21st-Century
291 pages · Paperback · Virago