Louisa ermelino biography of mahatma

We live in a moment when self-conscious elements of fantasy seem nearly omnipresent in contemporary American literature. Surrealist fables, pastiche parables, retellings of fairy tales, and the reclamation of all things speculative have, in recent years, made literary fiction a rather whimsical place to be.

As the real world feels increasingly devoid of magic, we are correct to admire those writers who attempt to interject some magic back into it. Perhaps slightly more admirable, though, are those writers who can write about the world — our mundane, recognizable world — and convince us of its magic without the aid of extra-realistic components.

In Malafemmena, Louisa Ermelino depicts a world ruled by superstition, ritual, mysteries, and initiation.

Louisa ermelino biography of mahatma

Midwives and new mothers squabble over the best place to bury an afterbirth. A woman goes to violent lengths to prove the virginity of her son’s bride. Backpackers on the ro