Scream

by Lia Purpura

Essay. “Once you really see a thing…it’s hard to unsee,” Lia Purpura cautions in an essay that asks us to pay attention to a world abundant with objects. While others may wish to possess these things, consume them, or else throw them away, Purpura chooses to name them, give them history and weight. A tin of mints. A tag on the ear of a cow. A bottle of milk. At the center of Scream is Edvard Munch’s iconic painting, now reproduced on T-shirts, coffee mugs, posters, inflatable dolls, so that the shrieking image loses its rage, becoming nothing more than “mild laughter.” But through the lyricism of language, Purpura shows us how the commodified may be returned to lives and landscapes of their own. This chapbook was designed by James Dissette and includes original illustrations by Stuart Cawley.

25 pages, Paperback

First published October 19, 2017

About the author

Lia Purpura (born February 22, 1964, Mineola, New York) is an American poet, writer and educator.

(from Wikipedia)