March 9th
7pm
A baroque work of intimate myth exploring one woman's interdimensional search for beauty and embodiment, through kaleidoscopic renderings of hospital corridors, brutal breakups, and passionate romance.
The Fifth Wound is a phantasmagorical roman clef about passion as a way of life. In one dimension, this is a love story--Aurora & Ezekiel--a separation and a reunion. In another, we witness a tale of multiple traumatic encounters with transphobic violence. And on yet another plane, a story of ecstatic visionary experience swirls, shatters, and sparkles. Featuring time travel, medieval nuns, knifings, and t4t romance, The Fifth Wound indulges the blur between fantasy and reality. Its winding sentences open like portals, inviting the reader into the intimacy of embodiment--both its pain and its pleasures
Named a must read book of 2023 by Nylon, BookRiot, Vulture, The Millions, and Ms. Magazine
We recommend that guests wear masks on the night.
Aurora Mattia was born in Hong Kong, has lived in Brooklyn and elsewhere, and lives in Texas. She is a trans woman. Her writing has appeared in Zoetrope: All-Story, the Renaissance Society’s exhibition Nine Lives, on her Onlyfans, and in RISD Museum’s exhibition any distance between us. She is a frequent collaborator with photographer Elle Pérez; their portraits of her have appeared in the Carnegie Museum, the Whitney Biennial, Aperture magazine, and elsewhere. Her debut novel, The Fifth Wound, has been put on must-read lists by Vulture, Nylon, BookRiot, The Millions and Ms. Magazine, and is now available from Nightboat Books. Her second book, a story and essay collection called Unsex Me Here, is forthcoming from Coffee House Press in Fall 2024.
Jaye Elizabeth Elijah is an orbweaver. Their practice connects art and poetry, visual media and the land, teaching and pleasure. Their images and words have appeared in The Counter, beestung, Earth in Color, Journal Safar, and the Academy of American Poets Poem-a-Day series. Jaye Elizabeth holds a BA from The New School and is an editor-at-large at Nightboat Books, a freelance language worker, and a forever student (current subject areas include stars, grief, and disability justice). Born and raised in southwest Ohio, they now reside under the wide skies of central New Mexico.
L Simone Wolff is Aurora’s ex-boyfriend and #1 fan.
In order to keep our events program running in uncertain times, we're asking attendees to hold their place with a $5 voucher, redeemable on the night of the event on any product in store or in our bar & café. You can alternatively reserve a spot by pre-purchasing the event book. If you have a change of heart or plans, write to events@mcnallyjackson.com and we'll gladly refund you and release your spot, up to 24 hours before the event. Thanks for understanding, and for supporting your local bookstore.
