And Marvel

Written by Cathleen Davies

Narrated by RJ Burns

Death is hard. It’s as inevitable as manipulation and misogyny; as inevitable as love, conflict, insanity, sleep-deprivation, and broken hearts. It’s coming. It’s here.

On the 28th April 2018, a young poet called Dan “DC” Collins was found dead in the woodlands by his home in Birmingham. He’d taken his own life. This was done, at least in part, because I had made the incredibly selfish decision to stop being his girlfriend. This decision would go on to affect the rest of my adult life.

I decided to escape from this reality by moving away to Basque Country, hoping to Eat, Pray, Love my way out of the survivor’s guilt and PTSD. This did not work. Instead, I had a nervous breakdown. Away from all the people who loved me, un-medicated, and isolated in a country where I didn’t speak the language, I managed to incredibly successfully push myself over the edge. It was a bad decision. I did however, manage to keep a diary of this inevitable mental decline. That diary is And Marvel.

I wanted to show this reality from the perspective of a flawed, grieving person. I wanted, most importantly, to keep DC alive in the only way I could.

This book contains candid discussions of suicide and the ways the world holds women responsible for the actions of their partners.

• Language: English
• Publisher: 4 Horsemen Publications
• Release date: May 22, 2023
• ISBN: 9798823201377

Cathleen Davies

Cathleen Davies is a writer, teacher, and researcher currently completing their Creative / Critical PhD at the University of East Anglia.Brought up in East Yorkshire, UK, they have taught and written in various countries, including China, Basque Country, and the UK.These days, they present seminars in high-schools, universities, and online, teaching a range of creative writing skills to people of all ages.Their current research project Stitches explores the body as identity, considering the different ways that we can alter ourselves through modification, and what this means in terms of gender, power, agency and freedom.They completed their undergraduate degree in Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia.While there, they published multiple stories in Egg Box's anthologies 'Undertow' and 'Underpass.'In 2018, they completed their MA in Creative Writing at The University of Birmingham, where they began their research into body fluids, art, and the use of protest through abjection, inspiring their collection Fluid.They continued to published stories from this collection in many online journals including Storgy, Mercurius, The Bookend Review, The Fictional Café, and many moreFluid will likely be released at the end of 2023.Their debut collection of short stories Cheeky, Bloody Articles was published by 4Horsemen Publications in August '22.CBA received positive reviews, being described as 'truly an amazing book' 'beautifully written' and 'full of surprises and joy and sadness', although it would be remiss not to mention that feedback has been mainly garnered from the writer's friends and family, of whom they are eternally grateful.Their memoir And Marvel is due to be released in March 2023.This details their time in the Basque Country, their recovery through the grieving process, and their various self-indulgent speculations on what it means to be a writer.Davies' work has appeared in collections by Dostoyevsky Wannabes, Muswell Press, and Vagabonds, and many more.All of their short-stories, articles and poetry can be found on their website here: https://cathleendavieswrit.wixsite.com/cathleendavies-com.They also co-run Aloka, an online journal for non-native and multilingual English speakers.Aloka strives to make the world of online literature as diverse as possible, amplifying under represented voices, and exploring the world through language, art, poetry, and translation.Davies currently lives in Norwich with their flatmate, and their eighteen-year-old cat Fliss. In their spare time, they haunt gritty bars and venues drinking too much beer, and enjoying their local music scene. They believe in peace, equality, and justice for all.