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Tilted Axis Press has acquired Annah, Infinite by Khairani Barokka, an experimental work of creative non-fiction taking in art, disability and colonialism via a painting by Paul Gauguin.
Publisher Kristen Vida Alfaro acquired world rights from Abi Fellows at The Good Literary Agency, publishing in 2024. Barokka’s book-length poem Indigenous Species was published by Tilted Axis Press in 2016 and nominated for a Goldsmiths Public Engagement Award.
“Annah, Infinite turns dominant narratives of Paul Gauguin’s famous painting ‘Annah la Javanaise’ (c 1893-94) on its head,” the synopsis reads. “The work argues a simple point: there is the possibility that the portrait is a depiction of a pained child. In highlighting the plausibility of this particular scenario in light of how contradictory ‘facts’ surrounding Annah’s life have been assembled in historical narratives, the work draws attention to how ablenormativity functions within arts institutions to mask colonial abuses.
“Annah, Infinite takes a closer look at the ways in which ‘Annah la Javanaise’, with its attendant mythologies of Annah the person or people, circulates in the world: as commodity of the global financial market, and simultaneously, as contradiction of tropes regarding disabled, southeast Asian girls in the ‘developing world’.
“An incisive look at how colonial ableism, racism and sexism have kept violent legacies on museum walls, it shows empathetic possibilities for imagining otherwise and charts histories of resilience and of disabled people’s longstanding activism. Interspersed with the author’s own poetry, fiction and visual art on the painting’s subject, this is a book of emotional heft.”
Alfaro said: “We’re incredibly excited to be publishing Khairani Barokka once again for Annah, Infinite; a work that unravels power structures starting from a single painting with the author’s trademark poetic flair and critical acuity.”
“I’m delighted to be published by Tilted Axis once again, and look forward to working with them on caring for the stories in this book,” Barokka said.