About the book

Who are you, really? That is the question at the heart of Lucy Hannah Ryan’s short story collection You Make Yourself Another, a visceral, tender, and elusive meditation on transformation in its many guises. Named for an insult hurled at Hamlet’s Ophelia, You Make Yourself Another blurs genre and gender lines to illuminate a state of sharp, queer flux. From a girl whose illness has her slipping between the veil of life and death to a grieving model on the path of self-destruction, from the mystery behind a teenager’s disappearance to a woman’s journey through bodily autonomy via strange metamorphosis, this collection haunts and hollows in equal measure.

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Advance praise

“Evoking morbidity, lust, and tenderness, the bizarre stories in You Make Yourself Another are tactile and real—you feel each transformation on your own skin.” —Bessie Flores Zaldívar, author of Rain Revolutions and Libertad

“With prose that is at once poetic and biting, You Make Yourself Another is an enchanting, visceral meditation on identity, transformation, loss, escape, and queerness. These stories transcend genre and transport us into expansive and imaginative worlds where we can become who we are. This book is a beautiful howling, an unflinching act of rebellion, and a powerful exploration of what it means to inhabit a body. Every page is a surprise and a delight.” —Marisa Crane, author of I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself 

“A magical collection perfect for fans of Kelly Link and Carmen Maria Machado, You Make Yourself Another speaks of love, suffering, and transformation in seven stories so vivid and intimate you can expect each of them to swallow you whole.” —Kathryn Harlan, author of Fruiting Bodies, longlisted for the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction

Press & reader reviews

“Ryan’s prose is lyrical & cutting—tinged with glimmering, queer magic. I have to be honest and say that short stories don’t always work for me. I often find I can’t lose myself in them the way I can with longer narratives. There’s something about the stories in You Make Yourself Another that held me in their palms and didn’t let me look away.” A review by Zeynep Sasmazel

“When I moved, when I danced and caught the rhythm, I didn't have to be myself anymore. I was music and machine, infallible and beautiful and panting for breath. Dance is very transportive, and I miss being able to be beyond my body. But of course, that’s the sleight of hand of the story, not the real meat.” An interview with Lucy Hannah Ryan for Kith Books

“Seven short stories that capture the realness of loss, love, escape, and transformation at its finest, all of which evoke a sense of connection, deep wonder and bizarrely enough, ease. Each story was vivid, brilliantly written, and thought-provoking. This is a little set of love letters about the rawness and realness of humanity.” A review by Sammantha Pollitt

“I did not dream the world in idylls. In the back alley of my mind a taxi leaked orange light against the worst of my wounding and I said, I want to leave that here.” An essay by Lucy Hannah Ryan for the Half Mystic blog

“I spent my childhood with this overpowering, recurring fantasy of bursting free of my own skin and the pain being over, something else burning through. For me, there is no sickness without the fantastic glittering like a mirage just out of reach.” An interview with Lucy Hannah Ryan for Interstellar Flight Magazine

“What I enjoyed the most about this reading experience was Lucy’s ability to describe things in a way that made them tangible. It appealed to my sensibilities as each word and sentence evoked feelings I’ve personally dealt with before, such as the all-consuming yearning and the sometimes inevitable hopelessness that come with being trapped in a place where you feel like you don’t belong.” A review by Isabel

“But even in stories featuring dead characters, more often than not it’s my protagonists that do the haunting, looming like spectres over their own lives, trying to break through and feel real again.” An interview with Lucy Hannah Ryan for the Half Mystic blog

“For anyone who loves queer, feminist, literary horror, this is the short story anthology for you! These are also perfect for people looking to get into literary fiction or horror, as the stories are short but jam-packed with tension, memorable characters, and spine-chilling experiences.” A review by Quinn Lawrence

“Loss does what it says—creates an absence, an exit wound. Even less permanent losses can leave you hunched over, muttering I feel like a wounded animal to yourself as you pace your bedroom. I’m still thinking about it; can you have love without grief? I don’t know if you can.” An interview with Lucy Hannah Ryan for Healthline Zine

About the author

Lucy Hannah Ryan is a poet, fiction writer and essayist. Her work concerns gender, sexuality and weird bodies, inspired by lifelong chronic illness. They have had the pleasure of being featured in various publications including Gay Times, Bullshit Lit and Pink Plastic House. Their chapbook Death & the Maiden: Odes to the Dead Girls of Pop Culture was released by Alien Buddha Press in August 2022, and they are a reader for Sword and Kettle Press. She lives in London with her cat, Nova.