Welcome to Avra Margariti author of the poem “Degenerate” in The Future Fire #60:
TFF: What does “Degenerate” mean to you?
AM: Looking at the definitions for "degeneration", one is about the alleged moral corruption inherent in any queer state and person, the other about a disease that causes the cells of the body to deteriorate and lose function. When it comes to horror, I am fascinated by concepts such as atavism (the tendency to revert to the body's ancestral state; for example, growing vestigial tails), and teratomata (fully developed tumors of mixed tissue and organs in unsuitable places; for example, an amalgamation of hair, muscle, and bone all growing from the same spot). Body horror and queerness are, for me, inextricably bound as a way to achieve desired metamorphosis.
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| Illustration © 2022 Josep Lledó |
TFF: If you could acquire the ability to speak with one type of animal or monster, which would you choose?
AM: The Lamia, which is also my current favorite creature from Greek mythology. She is a night-prowling serpentine daemon with the gift of prophesy (and the ability to remove and reinsert her eyes in their sockets at will). Originally regarded as beautiful and desirable by gods and mortals, she was later transformed into something ugly and monstrous yet is still a master of seduction (which often ends in anthropophagy).
Extract:
Vestigial wings
Atrophying pseudopodia
& motley degeneration
Of mixed metaphors
You can comment on “Degenerate” or any of the stories, poems and illustrations in this issue at http://press.futurefire.net/2022/01/new-issue-202260.html
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