A Creature of Transformation

From needle-sprouting cactus skin to a middle-aged body that begins to turn into a university, Manchester author James Hodgson's first pamphlet offers four short stories about mutation and evolution that take being itself to be a supple and slippery thing. These stories engage with metamorphosis both as a metaphysical consequence of being but also as a literary act of defiance and self-determination. Queer men of different stripes undergo transformations in their search for wholeness and meaning, with results that are surreal, visceral and political. Sexiness is monstrous and monstrosity is sexy here - for queer desire is also at the heart of each of these stories, and is often the catalyst for change. James Hodgson is a bold new voice, and a worthy winner of the inaugural Superbia Chapbook Competition. In these stories he bristles, contorts and swerves, proving that his is a voice to listen out for in future.