“The lunatic algebra of Love.  The frenzied orbits of Mood. The malarial temperatures of Wound, Symbols of the Cult of Seizure: This flesh, this amulet incised. This hot spoor of predators. This zodiac savaged in the sky.”

The Cult of Seizure is a work of lyrical mesmerism and animal magnetism from acclaimed novelist and artist Rikki Ducornet, which displays a lush poesis and visionary soul. Jane Urquhart describes it as a “combination of the bestial and the bestiary; of terror and of tenderness.”  Although an earlier work it contains all the evocative tapestries of her finest novels.

First published in 1989, this reissue includes another work from 2004, The Deep Zoo: Two Essays.

"Sharp, haunting poetry from a fine practitioner of the art. If you read only one book of poetry this year ..." – Globe & Mail 

"...If you're willing to take the plunge into poetry that cuts close to the bone of our dreams and obsessions, The Cult of Seizure contains some absolutely stunning examples of how language can transform actuality. Using as her model the medieval bestiary, wherein natural and imaginary animals mingled in glorious confusion, Ducornet... has mixed the rivetingly graphic and the ferociously fanciful into a striking volume of verse." – Toronto Star

"Rikki Ducornet is such a writer, mercifully and productively out of step with her time. She brings to her work a sense of curiosity that many contemporary writers have forgotten. Every object for her, as for Blake, has the potential to be an immense world of delight, opening perpetually up, with this delight being mirrored in the twists and turns of the language that both reveals and evokes it."  – Brian Evenson

ISBN: 978-1-908011-46-6
Copyright: Rikki Ducornet
Language: English
Pages: 92  
Binding: perfect-bound paperback
Interior print: black & white
Dimensions: 15.2cm wide × 22.9cm tall (6 x 9 in)

Published April 9th 2012

£8.99

$14.99

Rikki Ducornet is the author of eight novels (most recently Netsuke, Coffee House Press, 2011), three collections of short fiction, a book of essays and five books of poetry. She has twice been honoured by the Lannan Foundation and has received the Bard College Arts and Letters award and an Academy Award in Literature. She has illustrated books by Jorge Luis Borges, Robert Coover, Forest Gander, Kate Bernheimer, Joanna Howard and Anne Waldman among others.