INTERVIEW

INTERVIEW

 

Blogs are the pixelicious mimeo machines of our time.

Their samizdat potential is profound.

Tom Beckett

I see it as the continuous stream

of writing, écriture…

Alan Sondheim

QUESTIONS:

I sent the following questions to several Poets who have a blog:

I also suggested that they did not have to follow the list literally, they could just note down a couple of thoughts on blogs.

Many more than those featured wrote back, I appreciate the effort and I would like to witness these Poets’ kindness. kari edwards got sick, others were too committed and trapped by their daily duties; Pam Brown, even if in the middle of moving, found a couple of minutes to scribble down her answers; Chris Murray, brand new in the Realm of Bahrain and, as we can easily imagine, submerged by the quantity and quality of her new experience and duties, sent a detailed comment to my questions. I might continue the project after the Exam in order to give this opportunity to all those who are interested in it, or if the Authors present should wish, to go back and change or continue their answers. On the other hand I was satisfied with some extremely thoughtful responses and I enjoyed the conversational tone in which this exchange took place, besides the seriousness by which every Poet engaged in his/her duty. These are the common lines that unify the answers I received.

On my side, and in order to gratify the work I requested, I started digging in my archives and working with Photoshop to try to give a background to these answers. Some were easier to get, others required indefinite time, of some I am satisfied, of others I know I could have done better. Much in creativity depends on the days, on the moment, on the right click that makes the difference – I am speaking of the particular medium used, of an intuition that crossed or did not cross my mind.

I tried to find some brief quotations of the Poet’s work to lead the reader to a direct closeness with his/her work. My preference in the choice went to lines that in some way seemed to me to connect directly or indirectly with the theoretical work we have been carrying out during the Course of Cyber Literature.    

I acknowledge Adam Fieled, Alan Sondheim, Allen Bramhall, Andrew Lundwall, Bob Grumman, Chris Murray, Dan Waber, Deborah Humphreys, Geof Huth, Henry Gould, James Finnegan, Jean Vengua, Jeff Harrison, Jill Jones, Mairéad Byrne, Mark Young, Mike Peverett, Nick Piombino, Pam Brown, Tom Beckett, Tom Murphy, and Tom Orange – and the other many poetry bloggers who did not succeed in their wish to collaborate.

But most of all a blog is pure potential—

blank canvas available for contamination with one's mess.

Tom Beckett

I will also answer my own questions in an attempt to understand blogs, their effectiveness and possibilities, betrayals and disappointments.

- To blog or not to blog, this is the question…

Exactly. To blog or not to blog. The problems are many. I noticed that when I post every day, I am able to gather a little private community that feels gratified by the attention I am giving them. On the other side it is not easy to be constantly creative, and/or interesting. Due to the many duties, I have been away from my blog, and I try on Sundays to fill in with some new material. I am in line with Jill Jones who points out how time consuming a blog can be, and how difficult it is to keep up with yours and with others’.

If on one side I like the enthusiasm of Jeff Harrison, or the capacity Chris Murray has of sharing directly her experiences, even her private ones, on the other I lack motivations enough to keep going. I am much closer in this feeling to Tom Beckett. I agree with Deborah Humphreys who regards Mairéad Byrne’s disciplined choice of posting only poems as an excellence, as I praise Nick Piombino’s decision of dealing only with a specific genre, his are the “contradictory aphorisms”: “Contradicta” as he defines them. He also speaks of the different “incarnations” his blog went through, maybe I still need time to find the right dimension my own blog requires. Or maybe the choice of having numerous blogs, like Tom Beckett, Tom Murphy, Henry Gould, Jean Vengua, Allen Bramhall, Dan Waber is the solution to the many needs we have as writers, photographers, artists, all our thoughts drawn back to the elected field of poetry.

Opposite answers are given by Alan Sondheim and James Finnegan. Alan sees more potential in blogs while James, the owner of the New Poetry List, prefers listserves. He recognizes that lists are less controlled spaces “and thus subject to uncivil behavior and outright hijackings” but that they are “more conducive to free-wheeling dialog and the open exchange of information and views.”

- How would you characterize your blog you should describe it to one of us, i.e. another blogger?

Mine is a collection of thoughts, readings, pictures, information related specifically to the artistic world. I often acknowledge the work of others when it seems interesting to me and it requires recognition. I sometimes post some of my work. As Geof Huth writes, it is a place for me to learn because my blog is rather than anny-centric, art-centric, or poetry-community-centric. Geof Huth underlines that “glimpses of personality might be interesting, and that is what seems to propel bloggers and to compel others to read blogs, but the ultimate aim of a serious blogger has to be the chosen topic. Thought must trump personality; meaning must mean more than man”.

I practically distinguish the Poets Corner, where I publish only the work of others, from my blog, where I enter in a more personal way and allow myself to show my work-in-progress. The two are different. The Poets’ Corner is a very well-defined site. I ask the Authors to provide a bio or introduction, a photo, and some of their poems or writings, I recently added photographers and artists. The selection of Poets constitutes the backbone of the Corner. Poets on Poets, a subsection, is devoted to works in translation; I feature some of my translations here because I think they can be included without upsetting the rules I set for myself, i.e. not to make of the Corner a place in which I end up being the star. Reviews, the third subsection, also collects some of my work, it is meant to let the audience of the Corner know of some particular books circulating on the market.

I knew that the choice of the title of my blog: Narcissus Works could raise questions. By paraphrasing Derrida and by following his deconstructivist way that leads right down to the source, only by acknowledging our selves we are able to open to the others. “I believe that without a movement of narcissistic reappropriation, the relation to the other would be absolutely destroyed, it would be destroyed in advance. The relation to the other – even if it remains asymmetrical, open, without possible reappropriation – must trace a movement of reappropriation in the image of oneself for love to be possible, for example. Love is narcissistic.” I think his statement represents what I initially meant by this choice, besides seeing it as a tribute to the legendary figure that has been with me since when I was a child.

“Finally” Geof Huth writes, “my blog is about myself […] All bloggers become personalities more than intellects. The focus of a blog […] turns towards the typist and away from the typed (and type itself).” And I greet this comment as the passage from the Death of the Author to the Birth of the Author. The Author has a face, a house, problems with bills, nuisances, harassment, falls directly in love (not through his/her character) or looks forward to a separation, the Author in the middle of a blog bursts out with his/her unwillingness to write anything what-so-ever. The moods of the Author leak through the stylistic image set by the choice of the background of a blog. 

- I sometimes regard my blog as a safe place where I can meet my chosen people, is this the same for you?

I would contradict myself if I gave a different answer. On the other hand the comment box gives the opportunity to anybody to feel free to say whatever they like, anonymity is granted by the easiness by which  a fake e-mail address can be created. Harassment is by now a problem. A quick search on the blog forum showed that other people denounce this fact and are asking for a solution. I have often been the victim of unjustified negative feelings based on a competition I do not wish to have with some people – I know who is harassing me. Several times I had to block the possibility to leave a comment because some remarks were senseless and obviously not dictated by constructive criticism. Alan Sondheim is close to me in the perception of things as they are. Being continuously attacked he states that there is “no safe place”, and this has been also my perception of the world. William Gibson excelled in describing this feeling through Cayce Pollard, the protagonist of “Pattern Recognition”. Dan Waber is milder, but still quite wary. Of a different view are Bob Grumman and Nick Piombino who seem to enjoy a frontal fight. Henry Gould is sort of skeptical on internet communication, he feels it is “a poor substitute or replacement for direct correspondence and conversation.”

On the positive side, once won my shyness, the net in general, and specifically Poetry Blogs have given me the opportunity to meet and open to an ongoing dialogue with those that are by now among the best people I know. The interconnectedness given by this specific medium brings to forge a peaceful niche, a moment in which we meet the chosen others. Blogging, and by blogging I mean also browsing around my blogroll, has become for me an interesting relaxing moment, my “tea” with the a well-educated élite. As Jean Vengua so gracefully says, it is “a strangely comforting virtual home, where I often greet friends and visitors.”

- I am wondering do we sometimes forget that personal remarks, notes, poems are there for everybody to be seen?

I am noticing that this question in a certain way repeats the previous one. I am closer to Andrew Lundwall in this answer. Poetry is such a personal experience, at least the way I see it with my free verse that I do forget there are people out there that might not respect what I think Anne Saxton defined as “white-hearted water”. 

- Do you post many poems on your blog? Is there an actual difference in-between publishing online, mainly through a blog, or printed publishing?

Michael Peverett answers the question in a pragmatic way. His impossibility of “chasing publishers” due to a lack of time, to which I would add, the need to compromise with publishers of a certain standard, are obstacles that bring to the preference of online publishing. On the other hand there are few Poets who think that poetry will bring to a successful outlet on the market. Committed poetry, art, and writing, as any profession carried out seriously, rarely take the Author to the limelight because the investment in time needed for the constant and required educational involvement limits the possibility of dealing with PR’s. Publishing houses like lulu.com offer a DIY solution. Moria editions, editor Bill Allegrezza, published thanks to lulu.com my first collected, and Henry Gould’s In RI sided by my Italian translation has recently appeared with lulu.com.

As Adam Fieled underlines, “print versus net is a huge debate” that also entered our virtual class, specifically centered on printed and online magazines. Jean Vengua underlines the “difference between immediate (more or less) and delayed gratification”. To be part of a “flow of communication and discourse” is very important, since, as Jean says, “I used to feel very isolated as a poet, and very unsure of myself”. An isolation that in the case of Mark Young is logistic and the blog becomes a way of interacting if not on a daily basis at least weekly with other people who have similar interests. I can easily identify with both solitudes and many times I see the advent of the net first, a broadband connection second, as one of the most significant twisting point in my life.

Like Chris Murray, I don’t post too many poems on my blog. And I value her rhetorical way of seeing it by following Foucault’s definition of discourse as occurring most importantly only in its very moment.

- What kind of actual or immaterial feedback do you receive from publishing online through a blog?

From the answers that I received, it seems that blogs forge a presence that goes beyond the virtual. Jean Vengua, Allen Bramhall, Henry Gould, Geof Huth, Mairéad Byrne talk of opportunities in the printed world stemming from the blog.

The direct or indirect (through private emails) feedback that I receive is much treasured, often for the comment by itself but also for the fact that people do indeed read my blog. I might sound quite naive but any response as a matter of fact brings me serious and genuine surprise. Of which I am most thankful.  

- What do you think of the Blogosphere when related to blogs that deal with poetry?

I would like to underline Michael Peverett’s answer that shows a healthy investment in the medium and confirms my position in poetry seen as a continually evolving process, in the same way Michel Foucault saw his writings when criticized for his contradictions. Ron Silliman’s constant updating is an astounding point of reference, and his work within what can be called the community of poets has to be praised.

Even if I prefer Tom Murphy’s thought, his freedom from pre-established schools, talking of “the new york school / language / dada / (somewhat) vispo ilk … I’m happy to be able to visit, but just as happy to not have to live there all the time.” And again with Tom Murphy, it has taken me so long to get down to the tabula rasa of things to find a voice that could be mine, that very unwillingly I would go back to any walled current.

A blog to visit is Jeff Harrison’s and Allen Bramhall’s ongoing discussion on Poetry: Antic View is becoming a point of reference and one of the most interesting reads. Their work goes beyond the “whatever”-centric and is an example of an actual and committed work-in-progress, if not a complete dedication to poetry.

as/is by Andrew Lundwall is another re-invention of the blog. Members post their poems that are thus open for discussion. While Adam Fieled’s P.F.S. Post is an online poetry venue, Fieled invites the poets he wants to feature and promotes their poetry. Also Chris Murray dedicates part of her blog to the choice of an Author by featuring quite a good selection of their poetry.

Jill Jones mentions i-pod and I share her view on a technology that is changing so rapidly, that if on one side “it is exciting” on the other “it is tiring. There are other things in life that are more important. But the blog is part of it, for the moment, anyway.”

Chris Murray’s observation has to be remembered for her logical and at the same time often forgotten quality: "it reminds us all that writing is created by real people in all their ups and downs of life, their wonderfulness and their inevitable flaws, their basic and their aspirational humanness.” As Tom Orange needs to be mentioned, right for his objective duality that sees the Blogosphere as a polyphony of voices that are anyhow rarely translated into dialogue. Here is Bob Grumman, with his lovely picture: “It's like mass media related to the micropress, or the world related to the monks exchanging letters back in the middle ages”. Henry Gould joins in with a disappointed outlook that brings him to say that “society at large [ …] may have a more sane and healthy attitude toward poetry than poetry enthusiasts do.”

My answer? I am grateful to bloggers for being who and what they are, I feel as if I had just started _learning, writing, seeing, going, …_ and my way ahead is way way too long to be portrayed.