Some Animal - Paperback

Some Animal by Ely Shipley

Some Animal is a cross-genre collection where memoir fragments intersect with the clinical language of psychomedical systems, creating a powerful exploration of a body existing beyond gender binaries. This experimental poetry collection from Nightboat Books navigates the space between the impersonal and the experiential, producing what reviewers describe as work where "the grotesque and the beautiful crash like waves eroding shore."

A Hybrid Collection of Memoir and Poetry

This collection defies traditional categorization, functioning simultaneously as memoir, poetry, and literary critique. Ely Shipley constructs a narrative that examines gender nonconforming experiences through fragmented prose and lyric verse, drawing out dream-like resonances that challenge conventional understandings of identity and embodiment.

Exploring Gender Beyond Binaries

Some Animal addresses the lived experience of existing outside gender binaries while confronting the medical and psychological frameworks that attempt to define and regulate trans bodies. The collection's innovative approach to language mirrors the complexity of gender identity itself, refusing simple categorization or explanation.

About Ely Shipley

Ely Shipley is an award-winning poet and the author of Boy with Flowers, which received the Barrow Street Press book prize and the Thom Gunn Award. He teaches at Western Washington University and is recognized as a significant voice in contemporary American poetry, particularly within LGBTQ+ and transgender literature.

Contemporary Queer Literature

Published by Nightboat Books in May 2018, this paperback collection contributes to the growing body of transgender poetry and queer memoir. It stands as an essential text for readers interested in contemporary experimental writing that addresses body studies, gender expression, and the intersection of personal narrative with broader cultural conversations about identity.

Product Details

• Format: Paperback
• Publisher: Nightboat Books
• Publication Date: May 2018
• Price: $16.95