Some Stranger Somewhere

By Jessica Cerullo
Edited by Tia Kramer and Lisa Birman
Photographs by David Schulz
Forthcoming January 2023
Published by Lightrail

To request a copy of the book email TheShipsInTheNightCT@gmail.com
or buy direct from Bank Square Books in Mystic.

Some Stranger Somewhere documents the living archive project, The Ships In The Night. Weaving oral history, theater, and poetry, the book reclaims and reframes pandemic experiences, asking “what do you want (your community) to remember?” Artist, Jessica Cerullo, responds to this question through a series of poems and activations collaboratively created with strangers. Produced in collaboration with social choreographer Tia Kramer, Some Stranger Somewhere is a call for, and an example of, the creative power of listening carefully to the voices of strangers.

ISBN: 978-0-9828666-6-5
$20*
$7 US S&H
$10 Canada S&H
$25 All other international S&H
*A portion of all book sales will be donated to the Eastern Pequot Tribal Nation.

Jessica Cerullo is an interdisciplinary artist and educator whose work is rooted in the theater. Her socially engaged projects create experiences that court the unexpected and seek the revelation of poetry in the everyday. She lives in Connecticut with her partner and their daughter. JessicaCerullo.com

Tia Kramer is an artist, social choreographer, and educator who creates experiences of embodied poetry. Her socially engaged projects have unfolded at known sites, such as Seattle Art Museum Olympic Sculpture Park, and intimate ones, including Prescott School, in the wheat fields of rural Washington. She delights in her partner, kids, and studio dog. TiaKramer.com

Lisa Birman is a poet and novelist who splits her time between Australia and the United States. Her first novel, How To Walk Away, was awarded the 2016 Colorado Book Award in Literary Fiction. She is the editor of Dearest Annie, You wanted a report on Berkson’s class: Letters from Frances LeFevre to Anne Waldman, co-editor of Civil Disobediences: Poetics and Politics in Action, and author of a hybrid poetry collection, For That Return Passage—A Valentine for the United States of America. LisaBirman.org

David Schulz is an artist, graphic designer, and art teacher in New London Public Schools. His photo-bookworks are in major national and international collections, including C/O Berlin, the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, the Museum of Modern Art, the Brooklyn Museum of Art, the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, the Getty Research Library, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, among others. DavidSchulzWorks.com

The twenty-nine co-authored poems were written based upon interviews conducted in New London County Connecticut with a gas station attendant, a mammogram technician, a mother, a retired Marine, a sailor, Chris, Joe, H.P.A., R.E.A., Cynthia Adams, Menar Alakad, Victor Arcelus, Dayna Christie, Gerald Dillenbeck, Claudina Goss, Kolton Harris, Nazariah Isaac, Edwin Ivey, Kathy James, La’Tasha Maddox, Debbee McDonald, Tuyet Van Thi Nguyen, Chad Parks, Rasha, José O. Rivera, Robert Ross, Sydney Schukei, Patrick Sheehan-Gaumer, Danyelle Stephenson and April Tischler.

The poem, How Will I Live Now includes contributions from Martin Anderson, Tara Arbab, Marjolein Baars, Kia Baird, Lisa Birman, Joan Bruemmer-Holden, Jessica Cerullo, Mike Cerullo, Ludmila de Brito, Barbara Dilley, Ellen, Amanda Leigh Evans, Deb Falb, Zeph Fishlyn, Ethelyn Friend, Sol Garre, Maddy Gold, Gary Grundei, Ashley Hughes, Chloe Kolbenheyer, Kristen Kosmas, Tara Kramer, Tia Kramer, Leah, Francisco Leos, Kato McNickle, Roanna Mitchell, Leah Morrison, Lucia Neare, Chuk Obasi, Muireann O’Callaghan, Emma Palzere-Rae, Carolyn Patierno, Lenka Pichlíková, Ann Shapiro, Marie Slepin, Janet Smarr, Liz Stanton, Phil Stoesz, QDS, Alison Taylor, Lydia Taylor, Peter Tedeschi, Sayda Trujillo, Lisa Uddin, Ynez Vargas, Victoria, Steve Wangh, Jody Washburn, Ingo Willuhn, and others.

Funding for Some Stranger Somewhere was made possible by the Town of Stonington ARPA Grants for Arts & Culture, administered by the Cultural Coalition.