Elena Passarello

Biography

Elena Passarello is the author of a book of essays on infamous animals, Animals Strike Curious Poses (Sarabande, 2017), and a nonfiction collection, Let Me Clear My Throat (Sarabande, 2012). Her work has appeared in Iowa Review, Oxford American, Slate, and Creative Nonfiction. She teaches in the MFA program at Oregon State University and was the recipient of the 2015 Whiting Award in nonfiction.

See Work

ESSAYS / Summer 2016

Twinkle, Twinkle, Vogel Staar

By Elena Passarello ,  Illustration by Claire Scully

Whistle a little Mozart to a starling in a cage. If it knows humans as creatures that sing and are sung to, the bird will shut its beak. It will arch its starling neck, bending toward your puckered lips.