Wednesday Jun 21, 2023
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
POWERHOUSE Arena
28 Adams Street (Corner of Adams & Water Street across from the Archway)
Brooklyn , NY
11201
This event will be IN-PERSON – masks recommended. RSVP here!
About the Book.
Ana María Caballero, widely recognized as a leading voice in the Web3 poetry revolution, has written A Petit Mal, a genre-defying memoir detailing her journey to find the cause of her young son’s sudden onset of seizures. This book is the recipient of the Beverly International Literature Prize and was a finalist for five prestigious literary prizes.
Her book reinvents the stream of consciousness narrative by infusing it with the elements of life—images, doctor’s notes, inserting listicles, poems, essays and unique punctuation work together to bring readers within her mind and immerse themselves in her experience. Faced with the unknown, Caballero commits herself to documenting everything from day one in a practice that promises transparency and catharsis.
She catalogs everything: the endless doctor appointments, her struggles with faith and maternal fault, memories of her father’s illness, her journey into alternative healing, even seemingly mundane moments—such as the quality of the coffee at the hospital—seep into her psyche and into her lyrical prose.
Completely exposing the immense mental load that so many people, but in particular women and mothers, carry, A Petit Mal closely examines motherhood, womanhood, healing, faith and spirituality, illuminating the struggle that countless Americans encounter in the face of a healthcare system that sometimes does not seem to care at all.
Because of Caballero’s unique approach to the written word, it’s no surprise that A Petit Mal has bent all conventional methods of memoir. This boldly innovative book is part medical memoir, part lyric essay, part narrative poem, but throughout a page-turner. In the end, Caballero reminds us that art can be the most healing force of all.
Caballero is a co-founder of theVERSEverse, a digital poetry gallery, and her digital poems have been released by TIMEPieces, Playboy and Diario ABC, Madrid’s top-selling newspaper. She’s also exhibited her verse at some of the world’s most renowned galleries, including bitforms in New York and Gazelli Art House in London.
About the Author
Ana Maria Caballero is a co-founder of theVERSEverse, a digital poetry gallery, and her digital poems have beed released by TIMEPieces, Playboy and Diario ABC, Madrid’s top-selling newspaper. She’s also exhibited her verse at some of the world’s most renowned galleries, including bitforms in New York and Gazelli Art House in London.
About the Moderator
Charlotte Kent, PhD. is Associate Professor of Visual Culture at Montclair State University and an arts writer. She has contributed to numerous magazines and academic journals, and speaks internationally. She is an Editor at Large for Brooklyn Rail and co-editor with Katherine Guinness of Contemporary Absurdities, Existential Crises, and Visual Art (Intellect Books, forthcoming).