Elena Passarello is an actor and writer and the recipient of a 2015 Whiting Award. Her first essay collection, Let Me Clear My Throat, won the gold medal for nonfiction at the 2013 Independent Publisher Awards. Her second collection, Animals Strike Curious Poses — a collection of essays investigating famous animals, including Dürer’s rhino and Mr. Ed — was a 2017 New York Times Notable Book. https://www.brockport.edu/academics/english/writers_forum/