Phantompains - Paperback

by Therese Estacion (Author)

Therese Estacion survived a rare infection that nearly killed her, but not without losing both her legs below the knees, several fingers, and reproductive organs. Phantompains is a visceral, imaginative collection exploring disability, grief and life by interweaving stark memories with dreamlike surrealism.

Taking inspiration from Filipino horror and folk tales, Estacion incorporates some Visayan language into her work, telling stories of mermen, gnomes, and ogres that haunt childhood stories of the Philippines and, then, imaginings in her hospital room, where she spent months recovering after her operations.

Estacion says she wrote these poems out of necessity: an essential task to deal with the trauma of hospitalization and what followed. Now, they are demonstrations of the power of our imaginations to provide catharsis, preserve memory, rebel and even to find self-love.

Author Biography

THERESE ESTACION is the author of Phantompains, a poetry collection that explores her Filipinx heritage and physical disability. In 2021, the book was a finalist for both the Foreword INDIES Award for Poetry and the Firecracker Award for Poetry. Based in Toronto, Estacion has been an adjunct professor at the University of Toronto's School of Continuing Studies and is training as a psychotherapist. Her latest book is Jelly, Baby: Essays on Disability and Vulnerability.