An interview with Leon Baham on ‘Ponyboy, Sigh: A Word Problem’ and an Accompanying Mix

Leon Baham’s Ponyboy, Sigh: A Word Problem is officially released today! Ponyboy, Sigh: A Word Problem is a hybrid story-essay by Leon Baham wherein Ponyboy, of “Outsiders” fame, is submerged in a queer (un)conciousness that swins through the murky waters of desire, fear, love, brotherhood, race, violence, mothers, tenderness and memory. A complication of faggotry with an inquisitive chorus and echo like a bloody cave. You can purchase the chapbook and read an excerpt here.

In honor of the release, here is an interview with Leon Baham conducted last week via email:

What was your relationship to The Outsiders prior to writing Ponyboy, Sigh and how did writing Ponyboy, Sigh shift or disrupt that relationship?

I read it in the seventh grade. I don’t think I thought much about it for a long time. I started having the name ponyboy repeated in my head like a spell or something so I started writing. I thought it was kind of gay back then and now I still think it’s kind of gay.

What are your latest and greatest obsessions, in writing/reading and otherwise?

The Vicious Red Relic, Love by Anna Joy Springer is probably my favorite book to come out this year. I’m also really into work by Tisa Bryant, CA C­­­onrad, Christine V. Nguyen, and I’m totally looking forward to reading Kevin Killian’s new book Spreadeagle. I’m reading Virgina Woolf for the first time and I’m pretty into it. I’m also learning about hip hop right now. I’m listening to a lot of Mos Def.

What are your expectations of queer literature, as both a writer & reader?

I like queer literature that is open. The work that does not shield itself from the outside world. Instead it engages and makes brave choices. It may sometimes be wrong or not have the desired affect but it tries and is honest in this way. I’m really influenced by Jean Genet and he said something to the effect of wanting his work to be read by more people than just ­­­­­writers and artists. I like this idea. I think queer literature should not separate itself from the rest of culture. We’re as real as any other motherfuckers and so we should not be afraid to be read by those who may not understand just yet. I expect queer writing to be less afraid.

If you could time travel to any decade in history, which would it be & why?

I would travel back to the sixties and try and be one of the original Temptations.

Tell us about your current writing projects and writing process- do you work on one project at a time or several?

I have two large projects that I am working on as well as a side small project where I am trying to recreate my mother’s dream journal. The first large project is under the name The Book of Imaginary Boys in which Ponyboy, Sigh will be a chapter. The second project is a memoir piece called Supercool where I am writing about my grandfather murdering my step grandmother. The memoir piece will be mixed in between damaged writing and movie stills of a more complete history of black science fiction that I’ve created. The idea is kind of playing with the dead sea scrolls and lost sacred text.

What role do you see feminism playing on your own work?

It’s at the core of my work but I think it is shifting. I want my feminism to be hard to place in different situations. I was really close to my mom as a kid. She made me read and taught me science but also danced on tables and took off her top. I have a lot of dreams where I move from room to room and the rules change but are not explicit. I think feminism in my work moves like this.

Name five songs that you feel could serve as a soundtrack to Ponyboy, Sigh

1. He Needs Me- Shelley Duval
2. Four Women- Nina Simone
3. Music from ice cream trucks
4. Kill the Wabbit- Looney Tunes
5. Fastcar- Tracy Chapman

(Ed. note: I’ve made a mix of these songs for your listening pleasure! Read along to these sounds and weep. Download here.)

If Ponyboy, Sigh were being made into a film, who would you pick to play Ponyboy and Johnny?

I’d want Ponyboy to be played by a life size puppet or doll made by Kara Walker and I’d want Johnny to be played by a young Rock Hudson

Is there anything else you’d like to tell readers about Ponyboy, Sigh?

My grandmother ordered a copy.

An Interview w/’Perhaps a Girl Elsewhere’ author Adam Strauss

How did the poems for Perhaps a Girl Elsewhere manifest themselves, and what was the writing process like for these poems? Where did the original impulse for the collection come from?

For several years prior to the start date of writing the poems that led to this chapbook, I had (and of course still am) been interested in Feminism and so in August of 2006 I started to write lots and lots of poems which—at the time—were all titled From Feminism. In other words, I was writing a constellation. Feminism is a huge, very diverse, fabulously all over the place discourse, so I didn’t see a way to address the notion in an organized, straightforward way. Between 2006 and early 2008 I wrote 300 or so pages of From Feminism pieces. Once I had a huge messy amassment, I culled—and culled—and culled; as well, I titled the culled pieces. So far my response has been a little misleading, as it focuses on the production of the book-length manuscript from which the poems in Perhaps A Girl Elsewhere are taken. PAGE was assembled due to seeing a post advertizing a reading period for Birds of Lace by Megan Milks on the blog Montevidayo. PAGE has less of me—well, me overtly—than the From Feminism manuscript and is more clearly “about” girls and or women. Depending on one’s view, it’s either more or less feminist than the larger assemblage. I, personally, advocate that feminism be seen as critical thinking, as a fabulously flexible/adaptive allness which lets everything in, which takes the entire world for its subject—but others could argue that this is humanism not feminism; but that there should be this duality strikes me as weird and to inadvertently de-humanize (and not in a nifty generous experimental way) females, make them an esoteric other (and I am by no means automatically opposed to esoteric others but am not sure it’s the best casting for a large-scale to a large degree public discourse).

What art (music/film/writing/etc) has been inspiring/engaging you lately and why?

I don’t really watch films unless they’re nature documentaries or getting very, very low grades on Netflix—in other words give me a straight to video Paris Hilton flick over film as “art” any-day! Poetry-wise, I’ve been enjoying Rosemarie Waldrop’s Driven To Abstraction and devour Gossip Girl books and the Clique Series and the A-List series and well my new favorite series I don’t even remember the name of but I love ‘em! Something likes My Hollywood Life or somesuch. Too, I haven’t gone for the past three years without reading at least one Jackie Collins novel or novella. Her work is interesting because it purports to be feminist but is, I’d argue, actually a very elaborate patriarchal decoy. Other excitements: haute couture (I love looking at pictures of Dior dresses etc; and yay for Charles James!); Naomi Campbell; syntax. I would like to know more about Bernini!

Who are your feminist icons/foremothers?

Audre Lorde; bell hooks; Martha Nussbaum; Amartya Sen; Melvin Tolson. Melvin Tolson is not an obvious choice, as his gender politics basically, well, are stinky; however, I think his amazing poem “Harlem Gallery” is a great field to look at as a model which then needs tweaking; in other words although it has a large obvious flaw, it may also allow for liberation. And if men are not allowed on this list, then let me add Gwendolyn Brooks and Judith Butler.

If you could time travel to any time and place, where/when would it be and why?

A Versace runway show in the early 1990’s.

What are your greatest hopes & fears around writing?

My greatest fear is that I end-up irreparably alienating someone/demographic who I would like to be in loving relation to. Goal-wise, I would love to write a canzone a la “Zukofsky’s A-9”; too, I’d love it if I ended up producing a linked series of Petrarchan sonnets which are “dancing in chains” not looking like the form is kicking the executor’s ass. Too, if I could write a page-turning fashion pop-novel I would be ecstatic!

What are your current projects?

I write a ton, so there’s always too much. Two manuscripts which are not complete and which I imagine I’d like to bring to a state of “completion” include one titled—for now—Marrow: A Metaphysics (focusing on blood), A Synonym For Green (focusing on celebrating the figure of the lesbian!) and I also think I might like to make a manuscript titled Trompe-l’œil And Other Tricks.

You get to curate a reading that features five authors (dead or alive). Who do you choose for your reading?

Gwendolyn Brooks; Harryette Mullen; Cesar Vallejo; George Herbert; Jean Toomer.

***

Perhaps a Girl Elsewhere is available for purchase here. Adam Strauss can be visited online here.

An interview w/Roxanne Carter

Another interview from last year’s zine Freshette, this time with Finery #2 and #6 contributor Roxanne Carter. Roxanne’s first book, Glamorous Freak: How I Taught My Dress to Act, is forthcoming from Jaded Ibis Press later this year:

i mostly write and take photographs; everything is broadcast through www.persephassa.com.

i’m enamored with writing while watching films / television shows. i think a lot about mirroring techniques from structures like the melodrama and attempting to reverse or reveal something that had previously been submerged. i do a lot of research in addition to my voyeuristic practices, examining theoretical work on issues such as the gothic, fan fiction, etc. i’d like to work more on paratextual elements like making 8mm films and taking photographs to accompany fictions, but i think this part is the most difficult, mostly because of the necessity of light. it takes me longer to to come come up with scenarios worth committing to film; the process is less immediate than stringing sentences together into paragraphs.

more annoyances than fears. it is extremely frustrating and expensive to send work out and i find the whole process to be really troubling and miserable. i am disappointed sometimes but i do love what i am doing and i have to trust that i am creating an environment that will allow me to create the kind of space i need to do what i want but also to permit the unexpected and errant to slip in.

Recommendations:

[artist] aya karpinksa – technekai.com
[film] my name is oona – gunvor nelson, 1969
[game] the path – tale of tales – grandmothers-house.net
[book] the mothering coven – joanna ruocco
[album] prince – camille, 1986 (unreleased)

An interview w/Juliet Cook

Juliet Cook contributed poems to Finery #5 and Prayers for Chilren‘s first issue. She also runs Blood Pudding Press and the online journal 13 Myna Birds. Here’s an interview w/her from last year:

Mostly I write poems, arrange them into chapbooks, and assemble other poets’ poems into chapbooks, too—the latter through my own one-woman indie press called Blood Pudding Press, which publishes occasional single-author collections, collaborations, and multi-writer projects. Since I have limited resources and can’t afford to publish as much as I’d like to in print, I also edit an online blog-style literary magazine called Thirteen Myna Birds so that I can publish more stuff. The best consolidated source of information about my personal creative projects and publishing endeavors is www.JulietCook.weebly.com.

My favorite part of the process is reading and writing poetry (especially contemporary, experimental female poetry) and for me, the reading and writing gorgeously feed off each other. I don’t enjoy editing and publishing as much as reading and writing, so I guess I prefer the little idiosyncrasies and nuances of my own personal creative process, but I like the concepts of collaboration and collectivity and I do think it’s important to contribute to the creative community beyond just one’s own personal writings. My own poetry can be pretty solipsistic, so I like to extend beyond that with some of my editing/publishing efforts. My favorite part of the editing/publishing process is presenting provocative content in the form of an aesthetically pleasing artifact, almost like a special little gift for deserving poets. As far as the kind of space in which I work best, I rather obsessively structure my own time, but I like to have sizable expanses of time to structure. Really limited/limiting time frames tend to make me feel immobilized; but unstructured expanses of free time make me feel unproductive.

Overall, I’m not terribly fearful about the creative process or my creations, but I know they won’t resonate for everyone. For the most part, this doesn’t really bother me, but every once in a while, I get in a mode in which I start thinking about the possible pointlessness of it all or maybe even the frivolousness of it all or maybe even the self-indulgence involved with investing so much time and energy into creating these little art projects that probably mostly just matter to me. However, we all have to find our sense of special meaning and significance somewhere—for some, it’s in the camaraderie surrounding sports, for some it’s through religious beliefs, for some it’s political activism, for some it’s careerism, etc.. For me, it’s poetry. I feel that this realm is where my voice truly belongs and can most authentically express itself, whether or not my expressions resonate for others. Mainly, for me, it’s important to make my need for others’ approval secondary and stay focused on being myself and being expressive.

This will be a semi-random list based on materials I’ve enjoyed recently, rather than pressuring myself to narrow it down to five life-long favorites. I just read a little poetry chapbook called ‘The Sad Epistles’ by Emma Bolden, published by Dancing Girl Press that I thought was beautifully poignant. The cover of my own next poetry chapbook (‘FONDANT PIG ANGST’ to be published in December 2009 by Slash Pine Press) will feature disturbingly wonderful art by Marnie Weber, whose body of artwork is well worth an investigation. I hope it’s not uncouth to recommend my own poetry book, ‘Horrific Confection’, published by BlazeVOX in 2008; I only have eight copies left of this first full-length collection and am not sure when I’ll put out another, as I seem to be pretty immersed in my love affair with chapbooks these days; it’s available though my etsy shop at www.BloodPuddingPress.etsy.com. My fourth recommendation will be etsy in general, for anyone who hasn’t discovered it’s multifaceted delectability yet; it’s a wondrous online resource for buying and selling all kinds of handmade art and goodies. Finally, I’ll recommend a movie, the Swedish vampire film, ‘Let the Right One In’, which is far more artistic and passionate than some silly zombie flick.

An interview w/Traci Brimhall

Once again, an interview from Freshette. Traci Brimhall’s poems appeared in Finery #7 & her excellent full length book of poems, Rookery, is out now from Southern Illinois University Press:

I am a poet. My poems can be found online at various places, and in
many print journals.

My creative process constantly changes, but since I have been
traveling for the last five months, my favorite method is writing
lines of poetry on postcards and sending them. I usually forget what
I`ve written, but I find the transitory creative act very satisfying.
I once heard a story about a Chinese poet (perhaps Li Po) who would
write poems, read them to his washerwoman, and then fold them into
boats and set the adrift on the river. Although my poems are adrift
in the U.S. postal system, I like that the gesture of putting lines
on a postcard or a paper boat is all that is required of a piece of
art. The very act of creation was the purpose. No revision or
workshops or angst was needed. All I have to do is offer words to the
river.

What I`m most afraid of is sleepwalking through my life, which is true
of my creative fears as well. I want to be awake to every experience
and to every word. Annie Dillard in her book on the writing life said
writers should write as though they`re dying. They should also write
as though their audience was dying, because that is, in fact, the
case. She asks what we could tell a dying audience that would not
enrage by its triviality. If I have a fear about creating, I suppose
I fear forgetting that we are all dying. Slowly, it`s true. But what
we say to each other matters, both in art and in our daily lives. I
usually try to write by finding what Frederico Garcia Lorca called
duende, that cliff`s edge inside myself where I find my original fear
and the darkness I usually keep at a distance. I go there to write
because I assume that what I find there needs to be said.

I would recommend any book by Paul Zweig, any film by Ingmar Bergman,
and any album by Neko Case.

An interview w/Kristina Marie Darling

Another interview originally from Freshette; Kristina Marie Darling’s Footnotes to a History of the Victorian Novel is out next month from Birds of Lace:

I love writing prose poems about classical music, which can be found in e-chaps from BlazeVox Books and Gold Wake Press. New work is available or forthcoming in journals like Gargoyle, Cider Press Review, Miller’s Pond, Puffin Circus, and Pear Noir!. I’m also a poetry critic, and have reviews and essays appearing (or soon to appear) in Pleiades, Shenandoah, The Colorado Review, and The Gettysburg Review.

For me, the best part of the creative process is that it brings you into contact with other artistic people, so you’re constantly being exposed to new ideas. While most of the time I write alone, I find that learning about other people’s work is integral to my own process as a poet. There’s nothing more inspiring than seeing other writers flout the rules, revise literary traditions, or modernize old forms (like the sonnet, the ghazal, or the pantoum). For me, it’s great to be reminded of what’s possible in a poem.

I have this fear that every poem I write is going to be my last poem. I think part of that comes from stereotypes about artistic people, who supposedly sit around by themselves waiting for the inspiration to strike. When I start feeling like this, I try to remind myself that the best artists aren’t passive, and they certainly don’t work in isolation. Writing is like a conversation with other creative individuals, and there are as many ways to join in as there are people.

5 Recommendations:
1. Janus Head, a journal of interdisciplinary studies in continental philosophy, literature, phenomenological psychology, and art
2. Futurepoem Books, a fantastic publisher of experimental writing
3. Souvenirs of a Shrunken World, a book of prose poems by Holly Iglesias
4. Friend Among Stones, Maya Pindyck’s first book of poems
5. Night is a Good Child, an album by Crooks and Children

Interview w/Rhani Remedes

Here’s another interview from Freshette, this time w/jill-of-all-trades Rhani Remedes. Rhani read her work at both the SF & LA release parties for The Birdwisher and her writing is featured in Finery #6. Additionally, her band, Bangs of Hunger, has a cd that comes with Finery #7 and she will be doing the cover and illustrations for Carrie Murphy’s forthcoming Birds of Lace chapbook Meet the Lavenders:

I make posters and stories and songs that are fluorescent fish that glow at the deep deep bottom of the ocean where the blue whales stretch out.

My favorite part is when the all the mental chit chat goes for a walk and leaves us to make things with out stopping like were are possessed. I like working with others independently as I can be too lazy when left to my own devices. Tell me to make something for you by next week and it will be done. Tell me to make something for you whenever is convenient and there is no time like the future.

My biggest known irrational fear is when I am not feeling creative I fear I may never be creative again. Like my well will just one day dry up. It’s not true though and so hs dramatic. And since one can only always count on change you can never not be creative forever. AND. because a creative block (like any energy block) shows or invites itself as a sort of invitation into the unconscious it seems like a better plan approach the stagnation with curiousity rather than animosity. I try to be consistent without pushing too hard.

5 Recommendations:
1. On the lower frequencies; a secret history of the city by Erick Lyle
2. Alice Coltrane’a Journey to Satchidananda
3. Julius Eastman, composer
4. Walking Through Clear Water In a Pool Painted Black by Cookie Mueller
5. Sf Disco Preservation Society project by Jim of Twitch Recordings
http://www.facebook.com/pages/San-Francisco-CA/SAN-FRANCISCO-DISCO-PRESERVATION-SOCIETY/189436497650 & http://www.twitchrecordings.com/page23/page23.html

An interview w/Rohin Guha

Lasy year I did a zine called Freshette in which I interviewed a few friends/artists about their work. Relief Work author Rohin Guha was one of those people interviewed:

I write. I write fiction and non-fiction. But I’ve always considered myself a fiction writer–and I tend to be much more guarded about those projects than my non-fiction projects, which are blogs I contribute to, essays I write, basically anything anyone can find by Googling my name or visiting [www.OhRohin.com]. It’s trite but true: Once you let a piece of writing out into the world, it takes on a life of its own and becomes this ugly mutant, accruing public opinion, dialogue, and cultural context. And then you have to learn to love that mutant all over again. My novel’s not complete–it’s not ready to step out into the world yet.

I love deadlines. Without them, I wouldn’t be a writer. The pressure of deadlines forces me to generate what I believe is my best work within a time limit.

Ideally, I like to bounce ideas off my friends who are poets, musicians, and artists–people who understand the need to create. Having interdisciplinary friends usually allows me a fresh way of looking at an idea that I might otherwise gloss over. They might pick-up on symbolic or sonic tacks that as a fiction writer, I’ll rush past in order to advance the story. It’s those small details that make the story engaging.

Although the actual act of writing, I like to do alone–and typically while listening to music. There’s a quota in my head–a certain amount of music can go in. After that quota’s filled, I prefer silence. When working on my fiction, I work best at night. I also try to write first drafts that are intentionally more outrageous than how I’d like them to be–to see how far my characters will go before they stop making sense. It’s good to establish limits like that, I think.

A relative recently asked me, “What will you do if your book flops?” and I told him, “I”ll probably write another one. I just have to keep writing.” But I was being too cocksure there; failure is always a fear, but for a book to flop, it has to be released first. For it to be released first, it has to be completed. Baby steps. I move forward by keeping my eyes on the small goal in front of me. Writers are already messy people, so why complicate that by setting unrealistic expectations?

Recommend five artists/projects/books/movies/albums:

1. Visual artists – Gary Taxali, Floria Sigismondi
2. Book – ‘Lizard’ by Banana Yoshimoto
3. Film – ‘Mulholland Drive’
4. TV – ‘Weeds’