In Epiphany No. 35: Recognition’s issue, editor in chief Sara Lippmann gathers a brilliant collection of stories and poems. In her first Letter from the Editor, Lippmann writes: “Recognize yourself in ‘Metamorphisis,’ Edidiong Uzoma Essien’s eviscerating subversion of the Kafkian trope which takes on sex work, fantasy, revenge, class, and late-stage capitalism….” I agree. “Metamorphosis,” the opening story in the anthology, is eviscerating in all the good ways:
The fact of the matter is this: I cannot speak the language he speaks. I practice the few words I knew before logging on to our scheduled video call. Buonasera, scusi, vaffanculo. I cannot speak his language and he can barely speak mine. But there’s nothing to be done about it at present. I wait in a virtual lobby, programmed to resemble a corporate-type space. There are pretend chairs no one can sit on, and pretend cubicles, and even a pretend water dispenser. Every other second the water in it moves, the pretend chairs swivel. It’s an interesting touch, adds to the novel. I wait twelve minutes in this graveyard before I’m admitted into the meeting room, at five-thirty on the dot….
We enter what might be any international business meeting but Essien has a plan. She quickly draws us into a virtual sensuality where the body quite literally, within the world of this story, forms itself into desire for the right price. Essien’s prose is languid and sharp and surreal, allowing her reader extreme intimacy while calculating the very real costs. There are no apologies or mandates. It is what it is and it might as well benefit those who want it and need it most. This story sits with you long after reading.
I was fortunate to hear Essien read from “Metamorphosis” at the Epiphany Von Bar holiday party, which was a treat, both the reading and the party. I look forward to reading more Essien and Ephiphany.
About Edidiong Uzoma Essien
Edidiong Uzoma Essien is a Nigerian writer and digital marketing professional living on the U.S. East Coast. She has been previously published in Strange Horizons and Brittle Paper. Essien enjoys reading, creating content for her book review page, playing video games, and surrendering herself to the whims of her 3-year-old cat. Read more @the_ibibio_bibliophile.
About Epiphany
[Epiphany] publishes two print magazines a year and publish essays, fiction, and poetry online on a rolling basis. With our Breakout contest and Fresh Voices Fellowship we honor both student writers and writers of color who exist outside the literary establishment. For over 20 years we have championed work that transcends convention and demonstrates literary mastery. We are proud to have published generation-defining voices over the years, including Jamel Brinkley, Jennifer Egan, Lydia Davis, Sara Ahmed, Elena Ferrante, Robert Pinsky, Fanny Howe, and Rae Armantrout.
Our name derives from the Joycean idea of an epiphany as the moment when “the soul of the commonest object seems to us radiant.” Like the semicolon in our logo, an epiphany is a pause, followed by a shift. Like the semicolon, an epiphany can create a confluence of multiple ideas. Like the semicolon, an epiphany is both a part of language and outside of it. Read more at epiphanymagazine.org.
