The horror of creating life. Women authors breaking taboos
Few moments in life are scarier than those that bring about radical change. And few acts transform someone’s routine and world view more than that of creating life. In recent years, various authors have tapped into the tools of fantasy to break taboos relating to motherhood and explore how this experience, or the inability to have it, can be terrifying and distressing. Elisenda Solsona’s Mammalia (Males Herbes, Ictineu Award winner and finalist for the Òmnium Award) presents a dystopia that illustrates the extremes people will go to in order to combat infertility and the consequences of surrogacy. Laura Tomàs Mora, meanwhile, opted for a short story format, tackling the transformation caused by having children in Matermorfosis (Medusa). Following the success of her novel La història dels vertebrats, Mar García Puig chose an essay format in Això tan tenebrós (La Magrana; in Spanish, Esa cosa de tinieblas, Debate), about women, literature and metaphors with clear references to genres such as Gothic fiction. Another of the authors who has addressed the restrictions imposed on women is Inés MacPherson, who will lead a conversation with Solsona, Tomàs and García Puig that is sure to be a rallying cry in many ways.
