Worms #12

In the three previous issues of Worms, the publication has plumbed the depths of the mind, unravelled the mysteries of the heart, and traversed the vast expanses of the soul. For this next instalment, Worms 12 seeks to get back to its roots, to burrow heads and tails into the soil from which it came. The central tenet of its fertilising mission has always been to champion the best and most experimental writing, to challenge the exclusivity of traditional publishing, and to bring what's lurking underground to the literary topsoil. The publication revels in writing that corrupts form, defies genre, and subverts style; work that deals in the uncomfortable, the uncertain, and the untoward. It asks: what can literary form reveal about ourselves, our heroes, the global landscape. Rather than dwell on the turmoil of the current moment, the issue returns to writing to excavate its radical potential; writing as protest, as remedy, as subterfuge, as escape. While casting its net far and wide, a constellation of themes and ideas naturally emerged in putting this issue together. From the complexities of history, legacy, and lineage, to the persistence of ghosts, grief, and memory; from the trappings of masculinity to the transformations of parenthood, pregnancy, and birth; from acts of community-building to queer kinship, messiness, and desire.

Featuring: 

Tourmaline, Namwali Serpell, Alexis Pauline Gumbs, Jamieson Webster, Wayne Koestenbaum, Sophie Robinson, Missouri Williams, Robert Glück, Bambi Lake, Amber Husain, Mar García Puig.

Contributors: 

Eve Esfandiari-Denney, Madame Nielsen, Gaye Kynoch, Izabella Scott, Maxy Lury, Lou Ferrand, Tadhg Haran, Chariot Wish, Donna Marcus Duke, R.Z Baschir, Charlotte Pelissier, Anju M Kasturiraj, Vic Brooks, Saffron Morter-Laing, Dove Ginsburg.

Photographers:

Michel Delsol, Xavi Permanyer, Alexander Coggin, Robin Christian, Veronika Korjagina, Joseph Hayes, Ciarán Óg Arnold.

Artwork & Illustration:
Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley, Rifke Sadleir, Ivy Shepherd-Barron, George Paul, Katya Labowe-Stoll.

Worms is a bi-annual literary style magazine that celebrates female & non-binary writer culture.