Shel Graves' Sensorium

Taste: cardamom; curry Sight: "Kraken" and "Colossus" fiber art by Briana Knight ; a harbor seal; forest fuchsia and lavender; his shoes point like the tip of his sword; the girl on the bicycle mouths "Bitch!" throws ice Sound: The Break Up : "Her Fire," "My Machine," "Trapeze" "I dream in galaxies I move amongst the stars." Touch: whiskers Smell: orange peel Extra: "a vision of loneliness and riot" ... "a vein of authentic fire" — Virginia Woolf on Margaret Cavendish

I was interested in reading Margaret Cavendish's The Blazing World (1666) as an early example of feminist science fiction — a precursor to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1818) — and an oft-cited example of early utopian, speculative and interstitial fiction. Editor Kate Lilley calls The Blazing World , "...a narrative of the liberty of the female soul and the emancipatory possibilities of utopian speculation and writing specifically for women." It starts off with an intriguing story. A woman who is abducted and then shipwrecked lands in a fantasy world populated by bear, fox and bird-men and becomes their Empress. It made me think of China Miéville's Bas Lag fantasy world populated by a mish mash of animal and insect men, so I was gratified to find that Miéville references Cavendish in his books Kraken and Un Lun Dun and to find this article " Trans-speciation: From Margaret Cavendish to China Miéville " by Amardeep Singh at The Valve, A Literary ...

Taste: roasted mushroom, lemon, Cabernet Sight: burgundy hibiscus; a red hot air balloon rising; a deep green river flowing; a pink ring, tight black pants, blonde hair and missing teeth Sound: on awakening "of cabbages and kings" Touch: fist bumps: drunken women on the street corner and shirtless men dancing in clubs Smell: rank dog's fear Extra: found in an alley behind a doughnut shop: the letter she wrote to Andy, her recently paroled lover, but did not send

Taste: tart malus domestica (Earligold) apples Sight: an orange nasturtium atop a spread of glistening apricot confiture ; dogs hiding under a chair Sound: Komor Kommando " Das Oontz "; dub step Touch: belly rubbing; silk, air, a ceiling fan Smell: purell Extra: edible flowers; eventyr: pure adventure, fairy tales; "...the chariot is drawn by twelve unicorns, whose trappings are all chains of pearl..." — Margaret Cavendish, The Blazing World ; "Your Blazing-world, beyond the Stars mounts higher, Enlightens all with a Celestial Fire." — William Newcastle

Taste: Fuji apple Sight: mango, lime, avocado, green leaf lettuce, a bottle of Gewurtztraminer; white triangle slivers rimmed with red-apple slices Sound: Jeremy Messersmith , "A Girl A Boy and a Graveyard," The Reluctant Graveyard ; Jorge Luis Borges Harvard lectures Touch: jagged, metal edges, keys Smell: fat, salt, smoke - bacon Extra: suited men walk protectively beside her down beige hallways and tiled lavatories, in a room a bright, red, mohawk, sharp, glossy — a super, secret, sexy Manchester spy with a briefcase full of digital hardware to save the college president, end of story