Cardboard Clouds
Benjamin Niespodziany
X-R-A-Y Lit, 2023
This collection of short (page-length) plays is surreal and complex despite its minimalist leanings. Firstly, it’s important to note that this is one of the most beautiful books, as an object. Perhaps the best aspect of its content is how it plays two forms against each other: theater and literature. The plays often set up contradictory actions and impossible staging, creating the otherworldly atmosphere of these ‘nowhere/at no time’ performances. Each page/play with its existential questions and paradoxical scenarios reinforces the performance of identity, specifically its creation and its destruction.
Jesi Bender is an artist from Upstate New York. She is the author of the novels Rhododendron (forthcoming 2027), Child of Light, and The Book of the Last Word; the plays Crux and Kinderkrankenhaus; and the poetry collection Dangerous Women. Her shorter writing has appeared in FENCE, Denver Quarterly, Sleepingfish, and others. www.jesibender.com