[06/30/26] Mircan, Mihnea & Hughes, Helen (eds.): A Biography of Daphne

Spector Books, paperback

Publication Date: June 30, 2026

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Revisiting the classical myth of Daphne as the starting point for an investigation of trauma and metamorphosis, symbiosis and entanglement

As most famously immortalized in Ovid's Metamorphoses, the myth of Daphne and Apollo ends with the former, a river nymph of divine beauty, turning into a laurel tree after begging to be spared from Apollo's lustful chase. In this reevaluation of her story, Daphne's becoming tree--and becoming image--is reimagined as a cipher for contemporary predicaments, illuminating the perils and potentials of a profound transformation of the human. Daphne is here recast as a dynamic model for the ruptures between the "figures" and "grounds" of today's visual, social and ecological environments. Essays and artist contributions explore the integrity of bodies, their performative or prosthetic extensions and the alliances they enter into across species.

Contributors include: Jacquelyn Ardam, Lauren Burrow, Justin Clemens, Amelia Groom, Eva Hayward, Caroline A. Jones, Martha Kenney, Esther Leslie, Sophie Lewis, Candice Lin, Stephanie McCarter, P. Staff.