THE EMPRESS OF ROME & OTHER STORIES THAT MAKE ME POSSIBLE

The Empress of Rome & Other Stories That Make Me Possible is a collection of essays, micro memoirs, poetry, art, meditations, reflections, speculations, imagined history, hopes, and desires. Without straying too far from her own life, Zoa Coudret shows readers glimpses into other worlds, including Ancient Rome with the proto-transgender Empress Elagabalus, the Okavango Delta in Botswana where transmasculine lions prowl the plains, and The Tom of Finland Foundation for “An Evening of Pain” with transgender porn performer and artist Carta Monir. Pain reappears as a topic over and over in various ways, especially as it relates to transition and the (re-)creating of a self. This manifests or is created through electrolysis treatments, BDSM performances, hormone injections, the body physically altering during HRT, piercings, and other transformative experiences. With flourishes of lyricism, pessimism, comedy, and mournfulness, this tight-knit multi-genre patchwork ultimately renders a hopeful picture of living as a transsexual woman, finding agency through sex, and learning to accept and even sometimes love one’s body despite its limitations and pains.