{"product_id":"elephant-paperback-3","title":"Elephant - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eSoren Stockman\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"A serious young man, \/ I had trouble saying yes \/ to the bright, clear days,\" Soren Stockman's \u003ci\u003eElephant\u003c\/i\u003e begins. The poems that follow move through despair, self-destruction, and disassociation to arrive, finally, at that elusive affirmation. Accompanied throughout by the imagined presence of Joseph Merrick, the 20th Century entertainer and medical patient popularly depicted as \"The Elephant Man,\" Stockman's speaker interrogates how storytellers have co-opted Merrick's identity and obscured his voice and inner life. In this projected communion, Stockman tries to encounter the man who was rather than the role molded from his experiences. What does it mean to perform as another? What allows us to love ourselves, and what makes it hard? This debut collection is a path out of loneliness, beyond private absences, to the true self and what it harbors in its heart. Here, at the center of things, we succumb to the succor of existence, given to the light: \"What a blessing to love the world \/ and then finally be born.\" \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eSoren Stockman's poems have appeared in \u003ci\u003eBellevue Literary Review\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eBennington Review\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eBOAAT\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eColumbia Journal\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eH.O.W. Journal\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Iowa Review\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Literary Review\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eMichigan Quarterly Review\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eNarrative\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003ePainted Bride Quarterly\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003ethe PEN Poetry Series\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Recluse\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eRedivider\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eSt. Petersburg Review\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eSouthword Journal\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eTin House\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eTupelo Quarterly\u003c\/i\u003e, among others, while his prose has appeared in \u003ci\u003eThe Fanzine\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eKenyon Review Online\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003ePlayboy\u003c\/i\u003e. His work was awarded First Place in the \u003ci\u003eNarrative\u003c\/i\u003e 30 Below Contest and was twice named a finalist for both the New Letters Prize for Poetry and the \u003ci\u003eTupelo Quarterly\u003c\/i\u003e Poetry Prize, and has otherwise been a finalist in contests for \u003ci\u003eBellevue Literary Review\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eCutbank Literary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eGulf Coast\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eMemorious\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eThe Paris-American\u003c\/i\u003e. Performance credits include \"John Merrick\" in \u003ci\u003eThe Elephant Man\u003c\/i\u003e at the Wings Theater (2010), and more recently \"Victor Pistachio\" in \u003ci\u003eBloodshot\u003c\/i\u003e (2020) and \u003ci\u003eBloodshot: The Call\u003c\/i\u003e (2021), part of the Exponential Festival at Target Margin Theater Brooklyn, NY. Stockman is the recipient of fellowships from the Gloucester Writers Center, the Lacawac Artists' Residency, New York University, the New York State Summer Writers Institute, and the Ucross Foundation. \u003ci\u003eElephant\u003c\/i\u003e is his debut collection of poems.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 100\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.24 x 8.9 x 5.83 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e September 15, 2022\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47351103226105,"sku":"9781954245310","price":17.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0789\/2782\/3097\/files\/NnpCYnRCdTZ3VkVvQ1FBTFY2MGZ3Zz09.webp?v=1769795169","url":"https:\/\/bookscloud.io\/products\/elephant-paperback-3","provider":"BooksCloud Book Dropshipping","version":"1.0","type":"link"}