The Nothing That Is

Essays exploring the potential of language and thought to encounter the unimaginable.

In The Nothing That Is, Johanna Skibsrud gathers essays about the very concept of "nothing." Addressing topics including false atrocity tales, fake news, and responses to works by Virginia Woolf and Anne Carson, these essays seek to decentre our relationship to history and predictive models of the future. Skibsrud reveals a listening "Other" within every encounter between a speaking "I" and what exceeds subjectivity.

The Nothing That Is explores how poetic language can activate possibilities within every moment. This collection is for readers of literary criticism, philosophy, and art theory.