Alt+H
The Alterhuman Media Project

Get Involved - Researching Mental Health Care and Alterhumanity

Help us help your therapists help you!

Alt+H wants to create a resource which answers the fundamental questions that mental health professionals have about alterhumanity. We want to familiarize these people with the issues that alterhuman groups face and why they might come up in a therapeutic context.
But to give answers, we need to know what the questions are! Victim of Changes has developed a survey for anyone working in mental health to determine what their experience with alterhuman identities already is and what more they want to know.
The survey will run for around two months, and we intend to have the first version of the resource completed by Fall 2018.
We’ve created a handout to share with therapists, psychiatrists, counselors, and anyone else you know who’s a mental health professional. This will link them to the survey and let them know how to get in contact with us directly should they need to. Please share it around the relevant circles as much as you can!

Download and print the handout here 

If you want to take a look at the survey before giving it out, you can see a review copy here.

 

Alt+H Prompt of the Month: March '18

Spring has sprung! (or autumn, if you live in the southern hemisphere!) As the season changes, so does our monthly prompt. Consider your part in our growing world with the following:

"Connection to Others"

How does your alterhumanity affect your relationships? To your family, your home, your community, your religion? What does alterhumanity make you feel connected to? Who have you connected with over your alterhumanity?

You can tell us with an essay, a painting, a puppet show, a sculpture, or whatever other medium you can express it best in!

You can answer on Tumblr or Twitter; or you can link us to something on your own site via any of our social medias by @ing us or tagging #althprompt, or link it to us on the new #potm channel on the Discord server.
You can also send your submissions to althstaff@gmail.com with an optional alias to have them published on the site, and you can submit anonymously through the Tumblr as well (though be warned Tumblr may eat your submissions)! 
As always, we look forward to seeing what people have to share!

Alt+H Prompt of the Month Feb '18

As we come further into the year, it never hurts to look back on our history as a guide for where we are going next and who we are now, which is why February's prompt is

"History"


How has history impacted you as an alterhuman? How do you feel about the histories of communities you've been in? Have you been around for major portions of it? Do you have anything lost to time you'd like to share? Or perhaps reflect on your own history? There are limitless possibilities!

And all of those possibilities can be expressed in writing, art, slam poetry, splatter paint, a trumpet solo, or whatever you dream!

You can answer on Tumblr or Twitter; or you can link us to something on your own site via any of our social medias by @ing us or tagging #althprompt, or link it to us on the new #potm channel on the Discord server.

You can also send your submissions to althstaff@gmail.com with an optional alias to have them published on the site, and you can submit anonymously through the Tumblr as well (though be warned Tumblr may eat your submissions)! 

As always, we look forward to seeing what people have to share!

Alt+H Prompt of the Month

It's a New Year, and that brings with it both the chance to reflect and look back, and the chance to shed what's old and bring positive change into yourself. It's a time to declare new resolutions and set intentions for the incoming year that we look to with hope. So to wish everyone a Happy New Year, we present you with the January 2018 Prompt of the Month.

"Fate and Choice" 

When you think about Fate and Choice with regards to your alterhuman experience, what does that make you think of or feel? What role do each play in your life and perspective? Do you believe in one more than the other? Whatever your thoughts, we encourage you to share them however you can -- drawing, writing, video, interpretive dance, yodeling, parkour, it's a big new world full of ways to express yourself!

You can answer on Tumblr or Twitter; or you can link us to something on your own site via any of our social medias by @ing us or tagging #althprompt, or link it to us on the new #potm channel on the Discord server.

You can also send your submissions to althstaff@gmail.com with an optional alias to have them published on the site, and you can submit anonymously through the Tumblr as well (though be warned Tumblr may eat your submissions)! 

As always, we look forward to seeing what people have to share, and look forward to a bright and hopeful 2018!

Alt+H Prompt of the Month

Happy November! New seasons bring new things, and that includes a new take on the previously-named Question of the Month! As we posted here, we're making some changes to be more inclusive and inspire more creativity and sharing within our communities by formally introducing the Alt+H Prompt of the Month!
Now, at the beginning of each new month, there will be a short one- or two-word prompt with the goal of sharing what that word means to each of us in terms of our alterhumanity, and the prompt for this month and to kick things off is:

"Beginnings"


What do beginnings mean to you as an alterhuman? Could it be the beginning of your journey of self-discovery? Your entrance into the community? Something else entirely? Share your feelings on alterhuman beginnings through writing, art, selfies, videos, slam poetry, postmodernist meme art, even interpretive dance! Live your dreams!

You can answer on Tumblr, Twitter, or the Facebook page; or you can link us to something on your own site via any of our social medias by @ing us or tagging #althprompt, or link it to us on the new #potm channel on the Discord server.

You can also send your submissions to althstaff@gmail.com with an optional alias to have them published on the site, and you can submit anonymously through the Tumblr as well (though be warned Tumblr may eat your submissions)! So many options!

We look forward to seeing what these new changes bring and what folks have to share this month!

Alt+H: End of Year 1

Something very special happened this week: Alt+H turned one! As of the 27th of September we've been running this project for a whole year, and I wanted to take this opportunity to talk about what we've done with it so far, and where we're going in the future.

What have we achieved? Quite a lot, I think!

Some would argue that our biggest achievement is the Alt+H Discord server, which as of right now has over 150 members and has become a community that I'm genuinely proud to be a part of. We've got several times that many followers across all our various social media platforms, mostly alterhumans, but we've attracted the interest of plenty regular human folks and even some academics over the year.

We've forged relationships with even more alterhuman-adjacent communities, enriching our perspectives with those of postfurry and transhumanist groups, and we've produced plenty of thought-provoking articles and encouraged you, the community, to do the same.

Even the team itself has grown, from two friends fumbling about on tumblr to six passionate folks from all across the globe dedicating hours to keeping our various services running.

But the thing that means the most to me, personally, is every individual who's ever told me that Alt+H has given them the confidence to take their own alterhumanity seriously. This is something that's clarified our purpose a lot over time. Alt+H has taught me, the team, and so many other people that alterhumanity is worth seriously talking about, and that we have to be the ones to start that conversation.

That's why, in the upcoming year, Alt+H is becoming a registered charity.

We've come to believe that there needs to be a genuine effort to raise awareness and acceptance of alterhuman identities. I'm talking about awareness campaigns, academic research, media outreach, and educational resources. This is necessary because even within our own communities we're being told that such fundamental identity experiences shouldn't really affect our lives. But alterhumanity is a legitimate identity phenomenon with a unique set of issues that deserve to be addressed.

Practically speaking, we have a lot of ideas on how to go about this. One of our big goals is the creation of a dedicated Alt+H forum as a space where alterhuman folks can talk seriously about their experiences. We intend to conduct research on things like dysphoria and marginalization that actually stands up to scientific scrutiny, and work on creating educational packages for therapists, spiritual leaders, teachers and parents on creating alterhuman-friendly spaces.

Development is already underway on a new site.
Being a charity is the best way for us to realize these goals. Namely, because it allows us to recieve donations. Unfortunately our passion alone isn't going to pay for website hosting or leaflet printing! But this way, money given to the cause belongs to the cause, and not any one person behind it. Information on how you can contribute will come along later in the planning stage when we have an expenses list.

Speaking of which, how long is this all going to take? Becoming a charity doesn't happen overnight, and there's a lot of legal documentation to be done, but I can say pretty confidently that we should be officially incorporated by around January next year.

We couldn't have done any of this without your support, and I hope we continue to have that support into this exciting new phase of the project.

From all of us at Alt+H, thank you.



Happy birthday Alt+H! On the 27th of this month, Alt+H will be one year old! How we've all changed and grown since then - whether you've been along for the ride from the very beginning or you just discovered us yesterday, we're glad to have you here. Our birthday gift to you is this question:

What would you like non-alterhumans to know about your alterhumanity? What sorts of questions would you want non-alterhumans to ask our communities? Is there anything you think we have as alterhumans to say to non-alterhumans?

You can answer on tumblr, twitter, or the facebook page; or you can link us to something on your own site via any of our social medias or the #qotm channel on the Discord server.

You can also send your submissions to althstaff@gmail.com with an optional alias to have them published on the site, and you can submit anonymously through the tumblr as well! So many options!

You can submit whatever you like! It doesn't have to be a whole essay. And if you think you can get your feelings across better in the form of a comic, or a poem, or a flash mob, then that's cool too!

Of course, there's also the QOTM Roundtable to look forward to. This month, it's on Friday 8th at 8pm EST. See that in your local time here and then join the server so you can participate!

And just like last time, at the end of the month, we'll round up our favourite thoughts and show them off here. If your answer is particularly thoughtful, entertaining, or inspiring, that could be you!

Thank you to everyone who's ever participated for a year of great QOTMs!

Mutant Standard Is "The New Emoji Standard For Freaks"

Source: Dzuk on Mastodon

Graphic designer and orc Dzuk is the creator of Mutant Standard, an alternative emoji set. It contains pride flags and standard emoji reworked to be gender neutral, but of particular interest to us are the fantasy race icons and skin colors to match.

Dzuk started making them for zirself because ze didn't feel like zir experiences or personality could be conveyed accurately with the existing Unicode set. Regarding publicly representing zirself as an orc online, ze says on the site, "I've generally always wished there were some green skin variants of emoji to feel more emotionally connected to what I was posting online."

When ze showed them off publicly around the middle of 2017, there was interest enough that ze found the drive to create an entire set. Now,the project intends to make itself as compatible with the existing Unicode set as possible along with adding more fantasy items, nonhuman body parts and miscellaneous fun stuff. It's still in its early stages, but you can keep up with its progress at mutant.noct.zone.

Emoji have become so ubiquitous that it can be difficult to critically think about what they represent. They set standards, Newspeak-like, for what it's 'normal' to talk about. Of course emoji don't completely dictate what a person is capable of thinking or talking about, but something being accessible as an emoji makes it more accessible as an idea.

Or, to put it in Dzuk's words: "...emoji feels very much like this dumbass white anglophone corporatist idea of 'universal language', and by extension, 'universal experience'".

This is why the inclusion of skin color options and a pride flag in 2015-16 were so important. It's why the upcoming addition of a saltire in Emoji 5.0 is of emotional significance to the Scottish. And it's why the idea of alternative emoji sets for nonhumans is so exciting.

The prospect of a decentralized emoji system is pretty exciting too. Mutant Standard is already demonstrating the good that putting a communication tool in the hands of the people who actually need and use it can do. Whether or not it revolutionizes everyone's communication concerning nonhuman identities, it's still ultimately helping to make a lot of alterhuman people feel much more comfortable in their online skin.

Do you feel represented by the current emoji selection? What would you add? Let us know in the comments, and maybe pass your thoughts along to Dzuk as well! As well as on its website you can follow and comment on the progress of Mutant Standard on Mastodon, Ello, Discord, and Telegram.

 

For too long our Resources page has lain bare, but no longer! 

Along with an alterhuman FAQ and glossary (which those of you in the Discord server might have seen while they were in progress), we're now featuring the best resources from you, the community, on our site. We currently have sections for community history, social spaces, other sites and academic writing. Think something's missing? Let us know! As it stands the page is overwhelmingly dedicated to otherkin/therians simply because that's what we've found, but we want to change that! We're looking to expand our modest collection, particularly with non-English-language media.

Check out the Resources page now


Alt+H is looking for writers!

If you have things to say about being not-normatively-human and you want to get your voice out there, this is the opportunity for you! We're looking for creative, hardworking and passionate alterhuman folks to join our writing team, as well as opening the blog up to guest writers.

Join The Team

As a writer you'd have the responsibility of researching and creating longform, alterhuman related articles, newsposts or op-eds to contribute to a once per week posting schedule. Optional responsibilities would involve seeking out alterhuman-related news to report on and generally collating sources and contacts of journalistic interest.

  • We'd like if you could provide an example of previous writing work so we can get a sense for your personal style. 
  • You'll be expected to adhere to a style guide, which you can preview here in order to decide if these are rules you're comfortable working with.
  • You do have to be alterhuman in some way, but we're not looking for a specific amount of 'community experience' and in fact would welcome a diversity of experience from less 'mainstream' subcommunities like copinglinkers, furries, transhumanists and multiple systems.
  • We will want to interview you, but it'll be as reasonably informal affair. No 'where do you see yourself in 5 years', just a cooperative text-based discussion on whether the job will benefit everyone involved.
  • You will need a Discord account both for the interview and for communicating with the staff team in general, since we base our communications out of a staff channel on the Alt+H Discord server.

If this sounds like something you'd be interested in, shoot us a submission here

Be A Guest Writer

We're also making featuring your thoughts on our site more accessible than ever before by streamlining and updating our guest writer process. If you want to write an individual article for us you can check out the new guest writer page here.

And if there are other ways you think you could contribute, or you have any questions or concerns about this, feel free to let us know!

I Am Elf


First impressions are important. What first impression do you give someone of your alterhumanity? This is a question I have to ask myself repeatedly, since Alt+H is my job. 'What do you do?' inevitably progresses to 'what's alterhumanity?' and 'so what are you?', but an elevator or a hairdressers appointment is not the time or place to get into exactly which 17 anime characters one identifies as.

Why not?

Well, in my specific case, there's a lot to go into. Not just in terms of diversity of 'species' but in the myriad ways they relate back to me. I'm not just otherkin or just fictionkin or just 'hearted. And even within those identities, I'm prone to atypical experiences, semantic boundary-breaking and weird interdependancies. Basically, it's a big old mess.

A deeply personal mess, at that. The process of my self discovery has taken me... literally upwards of a decade by this point. Ten years of frantic research, midnight existential crises, getting blackout drunk and watching Yu-Gi-Oh! - you know, soul searchy stuff. The quest for self knowledge has lead me to some of my most vulnerable moments and I'm not about to share that with the Tesco delivery guy.

So for a five minute conversation, you don't just have to water down what you are but also why and how. But all of it is important! Especially in my case where, even if i'm never going to see the person again, them thinking of me as human is a major point of dysphoria. it's for both my sake and theirs that i need to figure out what about my alterhumanity is important to convey up front and which word
most serves that.

Elf, so far, is the best compromise I've found.

You know what an elf is, right? Most everyone does, fantasy fan or no. They're pretty ubiquitous in the human collective consciousness, and whether your mind turns to Legolas or Taako or those little Keebler dudes, you're envisaging the core idea that I'm trying to convey. 'Elf' is something which wears a human face, but isn't. 'Elf' is also short enough to fit in a twitter bio.

That's the biggest thing that it conveys for me, the core of my alterhumanity in general: superficially homo sapiens with some fantastical differences. Physically, bodily, I'm just as deeply entrenched in this human existence as anyone else. Mentally, culturally, and spiritually, I'm on the outside, looking in. And elf can be both of these things at once. I prefer it over other dual-nature fantasy archetypes like, say, the lycanthrope, because of this. It's almost paradoxical that trying to express just how far removed from humanity I feel, I've chosen something so almost-similar. In this way, elf is like the uncanny valley of fantasy creatures.

That being said, I have to admit there's an element of respectability to it. 'I feel like an elf inside' is a lot more palatable to the average person than identifying as a "subhuman" animal or an "outlandish" fantasy creature. But it's not that I want to make myself easy to digest - when I have five minutes to make or break the concept of alterhumanity to someone, I'm just trying to get my foot in the door any way I can. Despite what we wish, most people can't have a radical idea front-loaded onto their brain like that. So we take baby steps: as the marketing advisors would call it, elfhood is my loss leader.

And it is very much something I can lead with, on a visual level. For me, presenting as something I specifically identify as has always come secondary to just looking not human. So, I'm the proud owner of some latex ear tips which, while subtle, make a big difference to my profile, and I'm looking at getting some blackout contacts next. Some fangs would be nice, perhaps, and a little bit of contouring goes a long way too. It's all very minor - yet again we find that elfhood takes the familiar sight of a human face and subverts it just enough to inspire something fantastical.

Now, you may be thinking that pointed fangs and abyssal eyes don't sound very elf-like. This is when I say with a wry smile, ah, but I'm a dark elf. A much less familiar concept to the average person but you can probably guess from the name what it means. If someone's curiosity is piqued enough to ask about that subtle detail, that's my window to invite them down the rabbit-hole of further discussions about my alterhumanity.

Because, I confess, just 'elf' doesn't quite cut it either. The public image of an elf is that of purity, serenity, more-than-humanity. That's all well and good, but it's not really me. I'm messy and feral and downright monstrous sometimes. An elf, yes, but... dark. And if elves in this self-metaphor stand for the human perception of the fantastical, then dark elves are the reality: more flawed, less romanticized, more whole.

So that's one of the reasons I prefer to align myself with the elf's more shadowy counterpart. The other big one is that it just feels more correct. Stripping away all the narratives and metaphors and meaningful correspondences, drow and kaldorei and dunmer feel more like family than eladrin and quel'dorei and altmer. All the comparisons in the world don't mean anything if in my heart I don't feel like an elf - which I do, but the dark elves especially are my elves, their culture is my culture, their face is my face.

That caveat is particularly important because identities shouldn't have to mean something. A lot of nonhuman folks have the problem of trying to convince people that they really do consider themselves to be so, and it's not an analogy for another part of themselves or a role they take on or whatever. In a perfect world, I'd still probably have the issue of condensing my identity into something suitable for a five minute conversation, sure, but without the added stressor of which word can I say that'll make them take me seriously?

But first impressions are important, and once you've made the right one, you're usually good. So either we meet once, and the taxi driver or delivery guy or friend of a friend of a friend goes about the rest of their life having met an elf that one time, or a relationship progresses to the point where I can elaborate on the rest of the stuff. I'm happy with being an elf, for the most part, and that's the important thing. That finally, I'm introducing myself when I introduce alterhumanity to people. Not an approximation, or a half-truth, or a facade, but myself: an elf.


We're hearkening in the autumn once more at Alt+H. Lùnastal math (happy Lammas!) to those who celebrate it, and to those who don't, happy... August QOTM day? Either way, observe the festivities by answering this month's question:

Is your identity literal or symbolic? Voluntary or involuntary? As or with? Why do you think that is, what is it like, and what do you imagine the opposite would be like?

You can answer on tumblr, twitter, or the facebook page; or you can link us to something on your own site via any of our social medias or the #qotm channel on the Discord server.

You can also send your submissions to althstaff@gmail.com with an optional alias to have them published on the site, and you can submit anonymously through the tumblr as well! So many options!

You can submit whatever you like! It doesn't have to be a whole essay. We're seeing an uptick in art-based submissions which is really exciting, and any other medium you can think of is cool too. You want to do some slam poetry about being alterhuman? Go wild. Live your dream.

Of course, there's also the QOTM Roundtable to look forward to. This month, it's on Friday 4th at 8pm EST. See that in your local time here and then join the server so you can participate! The change in time from 5pm EST previously was well received, so 8pm is now the time you can expect all future roundtables to be at.

And just like last time, at the end of the month, we'll round up our favourite thoughts and show them off here. If your answer is particularly thoughtful, entertaining, or inspiring, that could be you!

We're looking forward to seeing what you've got to show us this month!

If you already have an idea for next month's question, let us hear it!

Monsters vs Metaphors: A Complicated Case of Fantastical Identity


I've been plagued by a specific issue for a while. I run into much more frequently than I ever expected. I find it in my talks with copinglinkers, in essays about the confrontation of transgender with 'transspecies', in panels about monstrosity as a vehicle for queer expression. The thing is, I am a metaphor by nobody's admission but my own. And when I see people applying the word 'monstrous' to movements, identities, concepts, in an analogous sense, I feel betrayed. Used, even. Am I right to feel like this?

Not many people seem to react as strongly as me, but the people I spoke to about this did voice some related frustrations. Literature about nonhuman creatures abounds, but how many stories have you seen about nonhuman-identifying people? The almost-but-not-quite representation is almost as bad as none at all - especially since, as many people described, there's a feeling of guilt in stretching an analogy to fit yourself when it was written about someone else.

Or, in some situations, the exact opposite - "that was my real, actual life," said several people about fictional narratives that are popularly believed to be 'about' something else. It can feel invasive and patronising to have your identity scrutinized and picked apart to "find out" what it "really means".

Source: Amy Phillips
So we end up feeling coerced into specific ways of being or expressing ourselves. I mean this both in the sense of, say, an elf feeling compelled to live up to the stereotype of 'elfness', and in a much more general way. "We know we're human really" and "otherkin are just people who take roleplaying too far" and similar go-to lines for both besmirching and 'defending' the community, they're all products of the idea that monsters only exist in the fictional, allegorical sense. We fall prey to it ourselves, too, and we internalize it. But we do not end with the closing of a book. We can't choose to disengage from what we are.

That being said, there are alterhumans for whom their identity is symbolic. It's perfectly legitimate to call yourself a demon because what 'demon' represents resonates with you on an analogous level. I recognize this, because I have similar feelings myself. I revel in my draconity being a symbol for change as much as I delight in the feeling of simply being a dragon. The power of monsters as symbols should not be devalued, and I think that we'd all be worse off if they were.

But it's kinda hypocritical, isn't it? Monster as metaphor being hailed as empowering while nonhuman-identifying people are ridiculed. I could call myself a monster with regard to my queerness (in a personally reclamatory sense, of course) and be called brave and subversive but gods forbid I take it any further than that. Gods forbid I actually, literally consider myself inhuman.

Source: David Malkoff
I think the most prominent example of this in current culture is the resurgence of tabletop RPGs. I saw a tumblr post claiming "D&D is part of gay culture now" and while I absolutely agree with and support that (gods know I've never made a cishet NPC in my life) I feel like I'm forced to pretend that's the real reason I love to DM and not because elves and dragons and monsters feel like home.
I have a blessed opportunity to create and enact completely nonhuman ways of thinking, acting and believing on a grand cultural scale and just have that be accepted as normal. Of course the orc said that, he's an orc! But he's also a person, unique and multifaceted like every member of his tribe, and best of all, he can be a person without being human.

Is it simply a matter of a lack of nonhuman representation, then? Because if the whole thing weren't so hypocritical, if nonhumans, real nonhumans, were as well regarded as our fictional counterparts, would I still be so bothered? I don't think I can know the answer to that as it stands, because I literally can't fathom what it's like to be widely represented like that - but I have a feeling it would help.

The issues surrounding nonhuman representation, awareness and acceptance are highly contentious even within the community currently, so I think it's safe to say the normalization of nonhuman identities isn't coming any time soon. But in the meantime, what do we do?

I don't think anyone can stop us seeing ourselves in these things, and feeling very strongly about them at that - nor can we really prevent the opposite scenario. I think it's very much possible to uplift and support people who are empowered through monstrous metaphors while advocating that we're equally respected for literally being monsters. And if, in the face of a lack of representation, I can decide the Babadook's gay and that's that, then I want to be able to do the same for my nonhumanity. Sometimes, I just want my monsters to be relatable without being metaphors, and to be people without being human.

What do you think? What media have you encountered that you can relate to your alterhumanity, and what was it 'supposed' to be interpreted as? How do you feel when nonhumans are used a poetic vehicle for other ideas? Leave us a comment and let us know.

Welcome to the second half of 2017! The year doesn't stop from turning and so neither do our questions. This month we're asking:

Who knows you're alterhuman? How important is it to you that other people know, and when do you tell them?

You can answer on tumblr, twitter, or the new facebook page; or you can link us to something on your own site via any of our social medias or the #qotm channel on the Discord server.

Send your submissions to althstaff@gmail.com with an optional alias to have them published on the site. You can submit anonymously through the tumblr as well!

Submit what you like! It doesn't have to be a whole essay. It can be a paragraph, a sentence, a short poem. Hell, it doesn't even have to be writing! Art is welcome too. Interprative dance? Music? Sure! Whatever you have to contribute is valuable and appreciated.

Of course, there's also the QOTM Roundtable to look forward to. This month, it's on Friday 7th at 8pm EST. See that in your local time here and then join the server so you can participate!

And just like last time, at the end of the month, we'll round up our favourite thoughts and show them off here. If your answer is particularly thoughtful, entertaining, or inspiring, that could be you!

We're looking forward to seeing what you've got to show us this month!

If you already have an idea for next month's question, let us hear it!

Recommended Reads: Summer '17

Summer is finally upon us, and it seems like hot weather is hitting everywhere pretty hard. To beat the heat, why not stretch out somewhere with air conditioning and enjoy our summer selection of alterhuman recommended reads?

Unnatural Creatures: Stories Selected by Neil Gaiman
Available for sale here

Young Adult Fiction: Unnatural Creatures

Unnatural Creatures is an anthology of short stories compiled and occasionally written by Neil Gaiman. From girls who can talk to snakes, mysterious museum specimens, and a nazi-fighting werewolf; these delightful tales blur the line between fact and fiction, human and non. Intended primarily for a young adult audience, but entertaining for older readers as well.

Light horror cw overall; sexual harassment cw for The Smile on the Face.




Nonfiction: The Universe of Things

The Universe of Things: On Speculative Realism by Steven Shaviro
Available for sale here
The Universe of Things: On Speculative Realism is Steven Shaviro's review and constructive critique of a fairly new type of philosophy called speculative realism. Philosophers of speculative realism seek to move away from the idea of mind/matter dualism, as well as anthropocentrism. Things need not be human, sapient, or even conscious to be imbued with vitality, and even thought. Shaviro presents us with a conception of a lively universe that is accessible yet infinitely complex; as subjects and objects, actors and events all interact with and influence each other across scales small and large.

Sound complicated? I found this book to be difficult to get through, but someone with more of a background in philosophy might have an easier time than me. Though it takes some effort to get into and understand, I want to recommend this book for its almost radical - yet, in my opinion, ultimately positive and life-affirming- anti-anthropocentric perspective on existence in the universe. Grab a cup of (iced) coffee and take your time; the ideas in this book are worth it.

Adult Fiction: Fifteen Dogs

Fifteen Dogs by André Alexis
Available for sale here
There aren't many books that make me cry, but Fifteen Dogs by André Alexis is one of those few. Humorous, tragic, noble, and crude all at once; this book is a short and bittersweet story of fifteen dogs staying together by chance at a vet's office overnight. That night, they are given "human intelligence" by two gods, to settle a bet between them.

I think Alexis handles this anthropomorpization deftly- the dogs may now have human-like ways of reasoning, but their interests, desires, fears, and perspectives remain dog-like. Or do they? For these dogs are not quite dogs at all anymore, yet neither are they human; and this new, in-between status is something the dogs must come to terms with. Fifteen Dogs is a deeply existential story about mind, mortality, and the meaning of happiness; and if you're prepared to have your heartstrings pulled, I can't recommend it enough.

Strong cw for animal injury, animal death, and sexual themes throughout. 



Have feedback about our recommended reads? Want to suggest content for our next list? Contact us and share your thoughts!