1 - How did your first
book or chapbook change your life? How does your most recent work compare to
your previous? How does it feel different?
I
realized after my first book how much more I have to do.
2 - How did you come to
poetry first, as opposed to, say, fiction or non-fiction?
For
some reason, I was more interested in poetry.
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?
Writing,
for me, is all fits and starts. A first draft usually provides a scaffolding, a
basis for change. Work that comes out of copious notes sounds like the worst
party ever.
4 - Where does a poem 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?
Sometimes
I wish I had a cat to chase around the house. Instead, I chase little phrases
and fragments around until something sparks. Either a poem begins or it
doesn’t. As for the second part of the question, it depends. Sometimes you
plant a field, sometimes a field plants you.
5 - Are public readings
part of or counter to your creative process? Are you the sort of writer who
enjoys doing readings?
I
like doing readings. I am an eternal intern in the performance department.
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?
I
read a lot of theory, but if any theoretical concerns make it into my poems
they do so through a mysterious process of recombobulation. In that metabolic
process I trust.
7 – What do you see the
current role of the writer being in larger culture? Does s/he even have one?
What do you think the role of the writer should be?
I
think the role of the writer is to produce great writing.
8 - Do you find the
process of working with an outside editor difficult or essential (or both)?
Working
with an editor seems essential to me. If you homeschool your poems they’re
pretty much guaranteed to be awkward around others.
9 - What is the best
piece of advice you've heard (not necessarily given to you directly)?
Give
up faster or don’t give up.
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?
Wake
up, start writing, try not to die, repeat.
11 - When your writing
gets stalled, where do you turn or return for (for lack of a better word)
inspiration?
I
turn to cardio.
12 - What fragrance
reminds you of home?
Narcissistic
personality disorder.
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?
At
the moment, film, visual art, Instagram, and Gregorian chant.
14 - What other writers
or writings are important for your work, or simply your life outside of your
work?
Sarah Manguso sets the bar for crisp, clear prose. Adam Phillips and his dazzling
sentences. Mary Ruefle, always. Also Leopoldine Core, right now. I forgot how
to leave the house for awhile after reading that book Bill Callahan wrote.
15 - What would you
like to do that you haven't yet done?
Make
some truly awful paintings.
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?
Investment
banker. Anesthesiologist. Piano teacher.
17 - What made you
write, as opposed to doing something else?
I’m
not very good at much else.
18 - What was the last
great book you read? What was the last great film?
19 - What are you
currently working on?
My
second collection.
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