Elias Kerr
Elias Kerr is a Transmasculine poet, who writes under the pen name E Kerr. They graduated from the University of Scranton in 2023, with a masters degree in occupational therapy, and double minors in English and writing. They are the recipient of the inaugural 2022 Stemmler/Dennis LGBT& Award. Their work has been featured in various publications, including Rappahannock Review, Another Chicago Magazine, and the Hollins Critic* and their debut collection, trans [re]incarnation, was released in April, 2023, with Mason Jar Press. Kerr lives and writes in Scranton, PA, with their cat, Nola.Emerging from the “embodied” trauma and lived experiences of a transgender poet, E Kerr’s trans [re]incarnation, aims to [re]write the narrative of the body its speaker finds themselves trapped in. Kerr finds themselves writing between experimental and reimagined traditional received forms, with reflections on how others have read, interpreted—and gendered—their body, to articulate what “queers” texts and bodies, as well as to represent their own queer experiences. Buried among the betrayal by one’s own god, body, and family, Kerr finds themselves among the wreckage of what once was, all while trying to piece together what still can be. Click on the image to order now!
Elias Kerr 2024
Publications
Poetry Books
trans [re]incarnation. Mason Jar Press, 2023.Poems Published in Print and Online
“My therapist wants me to write about hope.” Hollins Critic, April 2023.
“They Want To Run Us (Into Our Graves).” Another Chicago Magazine, March 2023.
“Nuclear Motherland.” Academy of the Heart and Mind, December, 2022.
“The Gray Rock Method.” Academy of the Heart and Mind, December, 2022.
“The History//The Witness.” Neologism Poetry Journal, December, 2022.
“What Runs Through the Family.” Evening Street Review, December, 2022.
“trans (re)incarnation.” Evening Street Review, December, 2022.
“Aspersion.” Esprit, Spring 2022 edition.
“Duplex Crucifixion.” Esprit, Spring 2022 edition.
“Mas[c] Synthesis.” Esprit, Spring 2022 edition.
“I brought you into this – .” Esprit, Spring 2022 edition.
“Exodus.” Esprit, Spring 2022 edition.
“I Am Neither Your Daughter, Nor Son.” Rappahannock Review, May, 2022.
“Argument Between the Inner Child and Me (2).” Esprit, Fall 2021 edition.
“post-skeletonization.” Esprit, Fall 2021 edition.
“after thoracic crash.” Esprit, Fall 2021 edition.
Events
Conference Presentations
“trans [re]incarnation: [re]born to this body.” Sigma Tau Delta International Convention 2023. Sigma Tau Delta English Honors Society, Denver, CO: April 2023.
“Queering Trauma: Trans-poetics by a trans poet.” Sigma Tau Delta International Convention 2022. Sigma Tau Delta English Honors Society, Atlanta, GA: April 2022.
“An Instant of Sound: An Exploration of Multimodal Poetry and Art, in Relation to Trauma.” PCA Conference 2021. The Popular Culture Association, virtual: May 2021.Select Invited Readings
Harvard Bookstore reading. Harvard Bookstore, Boston, PA. June 2023
A Novel Idea reading. A Novel Idea, Philadelphia, PA: May 2023.
Poets Live reading. Poets Live Scranton. Crotti’s On Ash, Scranton, PA: April 2023.
“trans [re]incarnation” book release. Mason Jar Press. The Crown, Baltimore, MD: April 2023.
“Trans Remembrance and Trans Elegies: Walking with the Excluded into a Hope-Filled Future.” The Jane Kopas Women’s Center and The Ellacuria Initiative, The University of Scranton, Scranton, PA: November 2022.
Esprit Literary Magazine reading, The University of Scranton, Scranton, PA: May 2022.
Esprit Literary Magazine reading, The University of Scranton, Scranton, PA: December 2021.Other Invited Talks, Presentations, & Workshops
“Queering Trauma: Trans-poetics by a trans poet.” Celebration of Student Scholars. Office of Research and Sponsored Programs, The University of Scranton, Scranton, PA: May 2022.
Interviews
“‘A Word?’ with Kellie Scott-Reed and Elias Kerr.” Video Interview with Kellie Scott-Reed. Roi Fainéant Press, May 2023, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9ZNkO8gRBo&t=1s]
“Contributor Spotlight: Interview with E Kerr.” Written Interview. Rappahannock Review, Issue 9.2, May 2022, [https://rappahannockreview.com/issue-9-2/interviews/e-kerr/]
“E Kerr is moving ahead by leaving the game behind.” Video Interview with Karleigh Webb. Outsports, 7 October 2021, [https://www.outsports.com/trans/2021/10/7/22713941/e-kerr-division-iii-softball-university-of-scranton-trans-athlete-allies-united-support]