Pain Is, a chapbook of eleven poems on the topic of chronic physical pain, was digitally printed and bound at Papaya Press in Los Angeles in the winter of 2023-2024.
A sample of the first poem in the collection, “The First Name of the Body,” is available to read here.
The book was produced in three formats. Eight lettered deluxe copies appear in unique collaged cartonera (recycled cardboard) bindings, each inspired by a poem in the collection. Eight numbered regular copies also appear in cartonera bindings with designs scanned and printed from the original collages. Twenty-four numbered zine copies in paper wrappers with designs scanned and printed from the original collages were also produced.
The “wound man” frontispiece that appears in the deluxe and regular copies was digitally printed on half-mulberry, half-bamboo fiber paper and features a letterpress caption printed on a C&P Proof Press at Nova Community Arts in Glendale, California. More information on the “wound man” figure is available here.
Copies of Pain Is are available for purchase. The deluxe edition is $30, the regular edition is $10, and the zine edition is $5 (plus shipping).
Contact papayapress@duck.com to order. Please specify the desired cover design in the email.