Friday, October 11, 2024

12 or 20 (second series) questions with Gitz Crazyboy

Gitz Crazyboy M.Ed (he/him/his) is a Siksikaitsitapi (Blackfoot) and Dene father and Indigenous Educator from Mohkínsstsisi (Calgary). Gitz’s passion and purpose is helping, guiding and most importantly, learning from the next generation, and he has held many positions within the youth education profession.

As an activist, Gitz is known for his leadership and participation in establishing the Bear Clan Patrol in Calgary, as well as organizing with the Idle No More movement. He has spent most of his life learning and living with different Indigenous Nations around the world. His travels have taken him to Germany, Ecuador, Guyana, Puerto Rico and sacred spaces all over North America.

Currently Gitz resides in Calgary and is actively reconnecting with his Siksikaits-itapi roots. He believes the truth of who we are can be found in the beautiful things our ancestors carried—riddles, mysteries, ceremonies, songs, medicine, love, life and laughter.

1 - How did your first book change your life? How does your most recent work compare to your previous? How does it feel different?
My first book was a challenge, the idea, the vision and the support was all over the place at all times. I had to confront a lot of self-doubt and discover the discipline to not only start but complete a book.  Not completing a story, whether it's a novel, novella or short story, is a trap a lot of us fall into. It was cathartic to finish it. When it was done and finalized, you have to let it go and however the world accepts it they accept it.  Thankfully, people loved it enough they wanted me to write more.

My most recent work is similar in that, I am writing stories in the celebration of our people.  I love stories about journeys, I love the thick and thin of walking pathways, getting lost and hopefully finding yourself.

This is a different kind of journey and a different kind of story, based loosely on a Siksikaitsitapi boy dreaming about becoming a Doctor.  There was so many parallels I found that our people endure and go through in their academic careers. And I just love that so many people now are identifying with the main character or the characters found throughout this story.  When people say, "That was me or this person reminds me of my uncle" It really hits home.

2 - How did you come to fiction first, as opposed to, say, poetry or non-fiction?
Back to the Future and Ferdinand really impacted me. They were the first real fiction stories that transported me into a different world with rules and mythology. I remember thinking I could have been one of Marty McFly's peers or an audience member watching Ferdinand the bull. But you know, Bull fighting from a Siksikaitsitapi perspective is such an insanely sad and tragic story and in this world there is this Bull who'd rather love then get violent, always spoke to me.  Where do we find these moments of peace and create these space of love when were at the mercy of a world we didn't construct.

3 - How long does it take to start any particular writing project? Does your writing initially come quickly, or is it a slow process? Do first drafts appear looking close to their final shape, or does your work come out of copious notes?
The start takes as long as it does, which can be very long or very short and it all depends on my attitude and enthusiasm. Sometimes the idea for the story is a moment inspired by a song, thought, turn of phrase, poem, movie, memory or where ever ideas come from.  Sometimes I see the ending and am inspired of how a character would get there or sometimes its the middle of the story and I wonder both how they got there and where they're going. Writing can be slow and it can be fast, the hardest thing to do often is just sit infront of the computer or have your writing utensil in hand and just put down letter after letter or word after word.

Drafts are drafts, try not to get too married to the ideas because some are great and others aren't.  In the flow of telling a story, just write it out see where it goes and if it works it works and if it doesn't, let it go and put it in the memory box you can return to later on in a different part of this story or a completely different story altogether.  Sometimes when I am discovering or shaping a character and their motivation, I'll write an extra scene that isn't ever intended to go into the actual story but it something for me to draw upon when I am wondering what my character would do or should do or cannot do. I do have a drawer of B-stories and scenes or things i call five minute adventures.

I do know one thing, your story gets better with each draft and then at some point it starts becoming worse. You have to know when to write and when to stop and that comes with a few people who know stories and whom you trust.

4 - Where does a work of fiction usually begin for you? Are you an author of short pieces that end up combining into a larger project, or are you working on a "book" from the very beginning?
Fiction begins in moments of life where I hit a line of possibilities that I cannot move forward on or imagine is happening. The stop light is red, what happens if I took a step forward, would a portal open up, would i get hit by a car, would the vehicles suddenly be repelled by me, what if this was the moment of realization that everything was an illusion, theres almost an infinite possibilities of what would happen if I took a step and also if I didn't take a step. I'm also sure, every guy has put himself in the shoes of, "What would happen if this bank was robbed, and I as a customer was stuck in it, what would I do?"

I have scenes and moments I write out and hope they fit in a story and if not, they go into the drawer.
I love getting stuck when writing, I'll think about it, re-read it and then something happens, I have no idea what it is but a light turns on and I have a way out or a way to move forward.

5 - Are public readings part of or counter to your creative process? Are you the sort of writer who enjoys doing readings?
I love to engage with people, I love hearing the responses and I love doing readings.  I think mainly, there are some amazing insights people share with you. It's this exchange of words and whatever it is that ignites in their brains.
 
6 - Do you have any theoretical concerns behind your writing? What kinds of questions are you trying to answer with your work? What do you even think the current questions are?
Things generally don't age well, and I wonder where and when that moment will be for the things I've created.  When things become dated and with that the nostalgia of the time, and then even that fades as it becomes a fairy tale word.

I don't know if I'm necessarily answering questions, its more of an explanation or exploration of ideas and themes.

The current question if there is one, is how these characters endure and get through it or they dont and how does the world respond, if it does indeed respond at all.

7 – What do you see the current role of the writer being in larger culture?
We tell stories, we tell truths, we tell lies, we hold up a mirror and sometimes we do a great job holding the mirror and sometimes we do a terrible job. Whatever you are meant to see, you see and if we can evoke your imagination and get you to at least wonder what lies within the darkness or within the light, then weve done our job.

8 - Do you find the process of working with an outside editor difficult or essential (or both)?

It's a challenge, but at the foundation of it must be trust. I love who I worked with, they were God's blessing. The relationship is key and they can push you to do better or at least a little clearer about what you're trying to say. A good editor will challenge you, a terrible editor will tell you everything is beautiful as the ship is going or gone down. Who would you rather have, the person helping you to right the ship or the person too afraid to tell you a terribly high waterfall is coming.

9 - What is the best piece of advice you've heard (not necessarily given to you directly)?
100% of the time, when someone tells you there something wrong with a specific part of the story, they are 100% right.

100% of the time, when someone tells you exactly how to fix a specific part of the story, they are 100% wrong.

10 - What kind of writing routine do you tend to keep, or do you even have one? How does a typical day (for you) begin?
I write better at night and I wish I could write throughout the day. (I say this as I am writing well into the dusk meeting dark hours)

11 - When your writing gets stalled, where do you turn or return for (for lack of a better word) inspiration?
Experimental music that's not quite jazz but also doesn't follow any rules of verse, chorus, verse. I like movies that break rules of storytelling (Adaptation from Charlie Kaufman,  Stranger than Fiction or something brilliant from different cultures Sanjuro, Sword of Doom)

12 - What fragrance reminds you of home?

Stew and Bannock

13 - David W. McFadden once said that books come from books, but are there any other forms that influence your work, whether nature, music, science or visual art?
We are oral storytellers, our creation stories, ceremonies, song, victory, medicines is ongoing and infinite encyclopedia of knowledge. Everything is an influence and everything is trying to communicate with you.

14 - What other writers or writings are important for your work, or simply your life outside of your work?
Helen Knott, Tasha Spillett, Richard Wagamese, Mark Tilsen, Tanya Tagaq, Tommy Orange and even the writings of students I've worked with, or cousins and family who havent shared their beautiful stories with the world.

15 - What would you like to do that you haven't yet done?
Write a movie, A tv show, a video game, start a band, purchase a house, and make peace with some folks that I'll never see eye to eye with.

16 - If you could pick any other occupation to attempt, what would it be? Or, alternately, what do you think you would have ended up doing had you not been a writer?
I mean, writing is my side hustle. I love being an Artist Educator. If I could pick another profession than that, I would have continued to be an outdoor guide.

17 - What made you write, as opposed to doing something else?
I am making the stories I've always wanted to read as a kid, as a teen and now as an adult.

18 - What was the last great book you read? What was the last great film?

The Shadow of the Wind - is amazing.

Frybread Face and Me - Indigenous royalty.

19 - What are you currently working on?

Something super top secret ;)

12 or 20 (second series) questions;

Thursday, October 10, 2024

Touch the Donkey : new interviews with Levy, Brown, Wilkins, Moseman, carisse, Nash + Praamsma,

Anticipating the release next week of the forty-third issue of Touch the Donkey [a small poetry journal], why not check out the interviews that have appeared over the past few weeks with contributors to the forty-second issue: John Levy, Taylor Brown, Grant Wilkins, Lori Anderson Moseman, russell carisse, Ariana Nadia Nash and Wanda Praamsma.

Interviews with contributors to the first forty-one issues (more than two hundred and sixty interviews to date) remain online, including:
Michael Harman, Terri Witek, Laynie Browne, Noah Berlatsky, Robyn Schelenz, Andy Weaver, Dessa Bayrock, Anselm Berrigan, Alana Solin, Michael Betancourt, Monty Reid, Heather Cadsby, R Kolewe, Samuel Amadon, Meghan Kemp-Gee, Miranda Mellis, kevin mcpherson eckhoff and Kimberley Dyck, Junie Désil, Micah Ballard, Devon Rae, Barbara Tomash, Ben Meyerson, Pam Brown, Shane Kowalski, Kathy Lou Schultz, Hilary Clark, Ted Byrne, Garrett Caples, Brenda Coultas, Sheila Murphy, Chris Turnbull and Elee Kraljii Gardiner, Stuart Ross, Leah Sandals, Tamara Best, Nathan Austin, Jade Wallace, Monica Mody, Barry McKinnon, Katie Naughton, Cecilia Stuart, Benjamin Niespodziany, Jérôme Melançon, Margo LaPierre, Sarah Pinder, Genevieve Kaplan, Maw Shein Win, Carrie Hunter, Lillian Nećakov, Nate Logan, Hugh Thomas, Emily Brandt, David Buuck, Jessi MacEachern, Sue Bracken, Melissa Eleftherion, Valerie Witte, Brandon Brown, Yoyo Comay, Stephen Brockwell, Jack Jung, Amanda Auerbach, IAN MARTIN, Paige Carabello, Emma Tilley, Dana Teen Lomax, Cat Tyc, Michael Turner, Sarah Alcaide-Escue, Colby Clair Stolson, Tom Prime, Bill Carty, Christina Vega-Westhoff, Robert Hogg, Simina Banu, MLA Chernoff, Geoffrey Olsen, Douglas Barbour, Hamish Ballantyne, JoAnna Novak, Allyson Paty, Lisa Fishman, Kate Feld, Isabel Sobral Campos, Jay MillAr, Lisa Samuels, Prathna Lor, George Bowering, natalie hanna, Jill Magi, Amelia Does, Orchid Tierney, katie o’brien, Lily Brown, Tessa Bolsover, émilie kneifel, Hasan Namir, Khashayar Mohammadi, Naomi Cohn, Tom Snarsky, Guy Birchard, Mark Cunningham, Lydia Unsworth, Zane Koss, Nicole Raziya Fong, Ben Robinson, Asher Ghaffar, Clara Daneri, Ava Hofmann, Robert R. Thurman, Alyse Knorr, Denise Newman, Shelly Harder, Franco Cortese, Dale Tracy, Biswamit Dwibedy, Emily Izsak, Aja Couchois Duncan, José Felipe Alvergue, Conyer Clayton, Roxanna Bennett, Julia Drescher, Michael Cavuto, Michael Sikkema, Bronwen Tate, Emilia Nielsen, Hailey Higdon, Trish Salah, Adam Strauss, Katy Lederer, Taryn Hubbard, Michael Boughn, David Dowker, Marie Larson, Lauren Haldeman, Kate Siklosi, robert majzels, Michael Robins, Rae Armantrout, Stephanie Strickland, Ken Hunt, Rob Manery, Ryan Eckes, Stephen Cain, Dani Spinosa, Samuel Ace, Howie Good, Rusty Morrison, Allison Cardon, Jon Boisvert, Laura Theobald, Suzanne Wise, Sean Braune, Dale Smith, Valerie Coulton, Phil Hall, Sarah MacDonell, Janet Kaplan, Kyle Flemmer, Julia Polyck-O’Neill, A.M. O’Malley, Catriona Strang, Anthony Etherin, Claire Lacey, Sacha Archer, Michael e. Casteels, Harold Abramowitz, Cindy Savett, Tessy Ward, Christine Stewart, David James Miller, Jonathan Ball, Cody-Rose Clevidence, mwpm, Andrew McEwan, Brynne Rebele-Henry, Joseph Mosconi, Douglas Barbour and Sheila Murphy, Oliver Cusimano, Sue Landers, Marthe Reed, Colin Smith, Nathaniel G. Moore, David Buuck, Kate Greenstreet, Kate Hargreaves, Shazia Hafiz Ramji, Erín Moure, Sarah Swan, Buck Downs, Kemeny Babineau, Ryan Murphy, Norma Cole, Lea Graham, kevin mcpherson eckhoff, Oana Avasilichioaei, Meredith Quartermain, Amanda Earl, Luke Kennard, Shane Rhodes, Renée Sarojini Saklikar, Sarah Cook, François Turcot, Gregory Betts, Eric Schmaltz, Paul Zits, Laura Sims, Stephen Collis, Mary Kasimor, Billy Mavreas, damian lopes, Pete Smith, Sonnet L’Abbé, Katie L. Price, a rawlings, Suzanne Zelazo, Helen Hajnoczky, Kathryn MacLeod, Shannon Maguire, Sarah Mangold, Amish Trivedi, Lola Lemire Tostevin, Aaron Tucker, Kayla Czaga, Jason Christie, Jennifer Kronovet, Jordan Abel, Deborah Poe, Edward Smallfield, ryan fitzpatrick, Elizabeth Robinson, nathan dueck, Paige Taggart, Christine McNair, Stan Rogal, Jessica Smith, Nikki Sheppy, Kirsten Kaschock, Lise Downe, Lisa Jarnot, Chris Turnbull, Gary Barwin, Susan Briante, derek beaulieu, Megan Kaminski, Roland Prevost, Emily Ursuliak, j/j hastain, Catherine Wagner, Susanne Dyckman, Susan Holbrook, Julie Carr, David Peter Clark, Pearl Pirie, Eric Baus, Pattie McCarthy, Camille Martin and Gil McElroy.

The forthcoming forty-third issue features new writing by: Lisa Samuels, Tom Jenks, Nate Logan, Henry Gould, Sandra Doller, Kit Roffey, Leesa Dean and Scott Inniss.

And of course, copies of the first forty-one issues are still very much available. Why not subscribe?

Included, as well, as part of the above/ground press annual subscription! Which you should get right now for 2025!

We even have our own Facebook group. It’s remarkably easy.

Wednesday, October 09, 2024

Jessica Laser, The Goner School

 

Edward Thomas

Sometimes I read you for anger
To see in your face

The confines of a medium.
What wouldn’t I think

To be a thought in your head?
The youngest and most beautiful

Love no one, but still I love
Everyone I’ve loved.

“I love roads”

Unlike a governmental body,
Mine can be shot

In the street in the broad
Daylight of democracy

I’d leave this country
But democracy loves me.

The latest from Los Angeles-based, Chicago-born poet Jessica Laser, following Sergei Kuzmich from All Sides (Seattle WA: Letter Machine Editions, 2019) [see my review of such here] and Planet Drill (New York NY: Futurepoem, 2022) [seemy review of such here] is The Goner School (Iowa IA: University of Iowa Press, 2024), a book constructed via five numbered clusters of poems, stretched across some curious distances and divides. The first section, which holds the twelve-part sequence “Berkeley Hills Living,” offers, as part of the fourth section: “My ancestors / did more than flee the Tsar, sell used clothes / on Maxwell Street. The whole time, they were / praying me into being. That I live / is the sign of their success.” There are such long distances, long strides and stretches, across this particular assemblage of poems, one that offers strobe and sage, commentary and concern, across cultural, interpersonal and political spectrums. The poems provide a window upon the world while composed with an intimacy of self, and of friends; a community, even through or despite the resounding chaos of a warming planet and other crises. “Eliot touched my face and told me / I would live into my nineties.” she writes, to open the twelfth and final section of the poem “Berkeley Hills Living,” “I ate some cream of mushroom / soup Eve made. Michael drove home / while I navigated, reciting all the poems / I’d ever known to stay awake.” She writes of attempting to exist and move forward across into an uncertain future, while simultaneously working to best live in the world as an ethical thinker, human and cohort. To close the title poem, as she writes: “I always said what kind of person I was / I was that kind of person [.]”

 

 

Tuesday, October 08, 2024

Dale Martin Smith, The Size of Paradise

 

Dear lord king godly death maniac.
I’m just filling space with phatic utterance.
Surge for entry, dense roots strangled in clay.
Word by word weave Fat Tuesday’s brassy balance.
Liminal king of antiquity’s sunk mores.
Now winter braces hymnals with waste.
No gloves to love with or glow into.
Spin toward disaster—here we so
take it wildly. Listening beyond
where one’s self pretends plantation. Sensuous
cashmere or Thermore. Flannel sheets and wool
the kids wear threadbare. Dream vocal warden’s
venal agency making room for the dead.
A new wind enlivens uncertainty.

I’m intrigued by the latest full-length poetry title by Toronto-based poet, editor and critic Dale Martin Smith, The Size of Paradise (Toronto ON: knife|fork|book, 2024). The Size of Paradise follows prior full-length collections Black Stone (effing press, 2007), Slow Poetry in America (Cuneiform Press, 2014) and Flying Red Horse (Vancouver BC: Talonbooks 2021) [see my review of such here], as well as numerous chapbooks, including from Riot / September 2016, an Inside Out Journal (above/ground press, 2019), and at least two with Kirby’s knife|fork|book: Sons (2017) [see my review of such here] and Blur (2022) [see my review of such here]. The Size of Paradise is composed as a kind of book-length sonnet-scape or sonnet suite, one hundred pages of one hundred untitled poems. These are pieces composed through constraint, albeit one focused more on a gymnastic language than I’ve seen of his work prior, offering an array of poems that each sit self-contained, as a kind of repeated response to a particular prompt. “Promised bomb falls at each step and the dead / persist in long slumber,” he writes, half-way through the collection, “cohabitants / of earthly paradise. Circle the many / objects composing you, insistent / collection folding me in.” There’s a collage-echo to the sentences and phrases assembled here, and I’d be interested to hear how these poems began, almost expecting a response involving the daily motion of composing a poem with the only constraint being the sonnet, a consideration of duration and of writing itself.

I’m curious about the way Smith pushes at the boundaries of the sonnet form, stretching and extending outward in waves, the edges of these poems moving nearly as would lungs. As well, to move through these poems is to move across duration in an interesting way, through the very act of writing, and of reading. “To write is a / residue like beauty,” he writes, early on in the collection, “a deformity / one adapts.” A few pages further: “I can barely sense duration.”