Confetti and Ashes: Reflections on Wellness is a speculative memoir that questions what it means to live a good life. Blending personal experiences with the voices of ghosts and a seductive Qareen, this is a meditative exploration of consciousness and the liminal spaces we exist in. As a passionate Squash player, the narrator delves into the transformative power of sports. This lyrical narrative is genre-defying, refusing to adhere to conventional ways of narrating stories we carry within our bodies. Multi-layered and in many voices, this is a narrative of memory, disability, and movement.

Shahd Alshammari is Associate Professor of Literature and the author of Head Above Water: Reflections on Illness (Feminist Press, New York) and Notes on the Flesh (Faraxa: Malta). Head Above Water (2022) was long-listed for The Barbellion Prize for writing on illness and disability. Alshammari teaches literature and creative writing in Kuwait. On her good days, she plays Squash.