Morbid Obsessions

The histories of the trans and sex worker rights movements are closely intertwined and, particularly in the UK, it's rare to find a carceral feminist who isn't also a rabid transphobe. What does it mean to write as part of a community that is under attack? Where, in fiction, is the line between exploring harmful ideology and humanising it? In Morbid Obsessions Alison Rumfitt and Frankie Miren explore these questions and talk about the crossover in the ways they chose to approach them in their novels Tell Me I'm Worthless (Cipher Press) and The Service (Influx Press), covering the pornographic interest in sex workers and trans women, online violence, moral panic, creative representation, and paying tribute to sex worker and trans activism through fiction. Frank, funny, and hopeful, and featuring two new stories, an introduction by writer and historian Morgan M. Page, and an interview with Natalia Santana Mendes, Morbid Obsessions is an urgent and vital conversation about making art as collective struggle. All proceeds (after production costs) from the sale of this book will be donated to Babeworld, a collective which seeks to create a more representative art world, and will go into direct grants to marginalised artists.

"Smart, lyrical and uncompromising on prostitution, British transphobia and so much else - Miren and Rumfitt are urgent comtemporary voices who can capture stifling airlessness and obsession like few else" - Molly Smith, co-author of Revolting Prostitutes

Frankie Miren is a writer, an occasional journalist and, until halfway through writing this chapbook, a hooker. Frankie’s first novel, The Service (Influx Press) came out in July 2021. The Service is a fictional take on the realities of sex work and swerf-ism in the UK and was informed by twenty-eight years dropping in and out of the industry, in various conditions and on several continents. Frankie is connected to the English Collective of Prostitutes (ECP) and the Sex Workers Advocacy and Resistance Movement (SWARM). Alison Rumfitt is a writer and semi-professional trans woman. Her debut pamphlet of poetry, The T(y)ranny, was a critical deconstruction of Margaret Atwood's work through the lens of a trans woman navigating her own misogynistic dystopia. It was published by Zarf Editions in 2019. Tell Me I'm Worthless is her debut novel. Her work has appeared in countless publications such as SPORAZINE, datableed, The Final Girls, Burning House Press, SOFT CARTEL, Glass Poetry and more. Her poetry was nominated - twice! - for the Rhysling Award in 2018. You can find her on Twitter @hangsawoman and @alison.zone on Instagram. She loves her friends. Morgan M Page is a writer, historian, and artist based in London, England. She is the creator of One From the Vaults, the podcast that brings you all of the dirt, gossip, and glamour from trans history. With Chase Joynt, she is the co-writer of the feature film Framing Agnes (Sundance, 2022) and the book Boys Don't Cry (MQUP, 2022). She is a life-long activist for sex workers' rights.