Writ(h)e, by Clara MacKenzie

Poetry, prose poetry, chapbook, 24 pages, from Bottlecap Features.

Writ(h)e is a whine, a scream and a sigh of relief - the few moments before a boil finally bursts, a dam gives way, a sharp ray of sunlight cracks though the clouds.

This organic, slice-in-time, diaristic collection of moments of realization is united by one certainty: that writing is writhing, a vain, endless contortion in the void but also a powerful propelling force, moving us closer to the depths of what it is to exist - a perpetual, necessary dance of hurting and healing, opacity and clarity, madness and understanding.

Illustrating the inextricable relationship of pain, creation and self-discovery, these 19 pieces tackle grief, being a woman, why we write and the horror and glory of being here. It is a physical, sensory examination of being incarnate, a testament to the importance of discovering our pain and paying attention to it: the process is one of revelation, and by unearthing through creation and writing, we can see what lies deep as real, and beautiful.

Writ(h)e is a surrendering of control, a challenge in the name of vulnerability. Through an unruly combination of forms, the text explores the limits of language, experiments with formlessness, bouts of free writing, punctuation, tense, person and finds its voice in a kind of percussive and deconstructed expression, toying with literary and linguistic convention.

Writ(h)e is a tale of the slow, painful and stunning process that is meeting reality and one’s own self through creative expression.

Clara MacKenzie is a Franco-American writer and photographer based in Oakland, California. She obtained her BA in Modern Letters and Literature at the Sorbonne and moved to California in 2020 where she’s been focusing on developing her craft, and working as a translator. She hasn’t stopped writing since she learned how, but has just begun to submit her work - this is her first publication. Light, water and music are her favorite things in the world.