Egana Djabbarova discusses her book My Dreadful Body (New Vessel Press, 2026) with New York Times columnist and Director of Hofstra’s Institute for Public Humanities and the Arts, Rhonda Garelick.
A dazzling debut novel about a young woman’s vexed coming of age in a traditional Azerbaijani community in Russia, grappling under the weight of Muslim patriarchal norms and a debilitating neurological condition. The mysterious affliction leaves her unable to control her muscles, plagued by pain and speech disorders, defying diagnosis. Addressing each body part with the scrupulousness of a medical researcher, the narrator explores memories, traditions, and taboos related to her physical self. In the process, a woman once destined for the role of a beautiful marriageable daughter comes to be perceived as damaged goods. With verbal elegance and poetic power, Egana Djabbarova unveils a hidden world in which illness unexpectedly facilitates her liberation. Her book stands in the proud tradition of confessional feminist writers like Sandra Cisneros, Arundhati Roy, Audre Lorde, Toni Morrison, and Jamaica Kincaid.
Presented by the School of Art & Design History & Theory at Parsons School of Design
Rhonda Garelick is the founding director of the Interdisciplinary Institute for Public Humanities and the Arts at Hofstra University, where she is also the John Cranford Adams Distinguished Professor of Literature. She is the author of four books, including the forthcoming, Why Fashion Matters (Yale University Press) as well as Mademoiselle: Coco Chanel and the Pulse of History (Random House) Rhonda writes the “Face Forward” column for The New York Times Style Section. She holds a PhD and BA from Yale University.
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Rhonda Garelick is the founding director of the Interdisciplinary Institute for Public Humanities and the Arts at Hofstra University, where she is also the John Cranford Adams Distinguished Professor of Literature. She is the author of four books, including the forthcoming, Why Fashion Matters (Yale University Press) as well as Mademoiselle: Coco Chanel and the Pulse of History (Random House) Rhonda writes the “Face Forward” column for The New York Times Style Section. She holds a PhD and BA from Yale University.
