Six authors in search of the 'body'

Explaining the anthology's theme, Kim Cho-yeop says, "Women will explore their bodies throughout their lives, along with the societal gaze cast upon them and the changing states of their bodies through different life stages.

"Sometimes, being so focused on the 'body' can feel like a strong constraint on women's lives. But because of this personal experience, women can develop their own unique 'body perspective'. Since we are destined to live confined in these bodies, we might as well see them as a source of discovery and wonder," she says.

These sci-fi stories exploring the "body" include:

A protagonist who hates humans and detests touch is followed by a secondary character with obsessive devotion. (Kim Cho-yeop's Sweet and Tepid Sadness)

A female robot who barely responds to harassing touches yet reacts intensely to comforting gestures and hugs. (Kim Chung-gyul's Yes, I Want to Die)

A time-reversed mother-daughter pair, where the elderly daughter watches her young mother with curiosity and tenderness as she tells her own story. (Cheng Jingbo's A Brief History of Orchids)

A woman who wanders alone in a post-apocalyptic world, refusing to form relationships with others (Cheon Seon-ran's The Iron Record);groups of women coping with pain after implanting sensory-regulating chips (Wang Kanyu's Jade Carving);and two girls exploring bodies altered by language, bravely accepting change ahead of the rest of the world (Zhou Wen's Tomorrow's Illusion, Yesterday's Glow).

Ren Dongmei, a seasoned sci-fi researcher and critic, says that the most noteworthy aspect of Body, Again is how these authors translate common "body anxiety" in sci-fi writing into "body sovereignty".