There was a time when I attempted to step outside gender, to be the woman in the astro-nautical chef uniform manipulating the translucent box of ideology. Or rather, to be the person. To become interchangeable. To become stock.

Listen below as Sam Martin reads Clarence Orsi’s “Take Stock.” Martin’s reading took place on November 10, as part of the annual NER Out Loud reading at Middlebury College. “Take Stock” was originally published in NER Vol. 38, No. 2 (2017) and is available to read online here. 

 

ABOUT THE READER

Sam Martin ’19 is a double major in Theater and American Studies at Middlebury, originally from Richmond, Virginia. Sam is a firm believer in the power and necessity of art and storytelling, especially now and especially here, and is delighted to be able to experience and share this evening’s selection of writings. He has worked in performance, stage management, lighting design, and directing, and will be appearing next in the Theater department’s production of Will Eno’s Middletown.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Clarence Orsi is a Baltimore-based writer and Assistant Professor of English at Cecil College in Maryland. His interests include contemporary and twentieth-century fiction, literary and cultural criticism, urban space, and queer literature, among many others. He has a PhD in English from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. His essays and fiction have appeared in publications including the American Literary Review, the Believer, Chicago Review, Cincinnati Review, and n+1.

 

Subscribe to NER today!