What are you working on?
As I write this, I'm proofing galleys of my book Theories of Performance, which should be available for preorder by the time these questions post. I'm also working on placing another book, The Horse. I have slowed down my poetry writing for a number of reasons, but I do have a collection-in-progress called Simple Machines that's coming into being. I'm also working on an ongoing visual poetry/poetry comics/collage poetry collaboration with Johnny Damm, which spills over into independent collage poetry pieces.
I'm always working on my ongoing everyday journaling, which has direct & indirect relationships to my other work. I'm also placing more energy into video work that isn't precisely poetic. I am thinking through the question, "what would happen if I made a 'lyric essay' in video format?" as I imagine a possible road trip across New York State that is also a trip through my past & present. But the trip itself is also, possibly, completely imaginary, or may have to be. Making a video "essay" from that is in keeping with the way I work poetically, though!
Showing posts with label Jay Besemer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jay Besemer. Show all posts
Tuesday, 19 May 2020
Tuesday, 12 May 2020
Jay Besemer : part five
How does a poem begin?
Like an itch or sneeze. Or a craving for a certain food. Sometimes a small phrase, two or three words, will surface in my consciousness & I will begin there, finding the poem that wants to emerge from those words. Other times, with work that begins with a source text I've chosen to select words from, it starts with the discovery of a phrase or word on a page that seems to have special life & could lead somewhere. Or it might begin very literally with an image, a piece of video I've recorded that I center a video poem around or otherwise incorporate into the video poem.
Like an itch or sneeze. Or a craving for a certain food. Sometimes a small phrase, two or three words, will surface in my consciousness & I will begin there, finding the poem that wants to emerge from those words. Other times, with work that begins with a source text I've chosen to select words from, it starts with the discovery of a phrase or word on a page that seems to have special life & could lead somewhere. Or it might begin very literally with an image, a piece of video I've recorded that I center a video poem around or otherwise incorporate into the video poem.
Tuesday, 5 May 2020
Jay Besemer : part four
How important is music to your poetry?
Initially I would have said that music is unimportant, because its superficial elements aren't easily recognized in my work, even when I write lyrically. But that ignores the truth of music as context for the work--again, in non-obvious ways. My father & husband are both musicians, as was my mother (lots of musicians in my extended family on both sides, too). I am significantly not a musician, though I did sing until transition & illness sort of mangled my voice. I think the real importance of music to my poetry lies in the connection between a bodily-felt awareness/relationship with rhythm, from having family members & friends practicing, learning pieces of music, giving concerts or recitals, all around me. Perhaps that created a sort of subliminal auditory sense I could apply to my own work, because I am very interested in the "mouthfeel" as well as the sounds of words, what one might call their musicality. I don't necessarily feature this in the work, but it's often present. I also find myself using very loose internal rhyme in some poems or batches of poems. I suppose all of this makes sense in terms of that ambient musical vibration.
Another important connection is with ancient Greek drama, which is a large influence on my writing lately. I have a theatre background that probably enters into this mix. The "sung" quality of Greek drama comes through even on the page in contemporary translation, in a way that is fascinating to me, which is why I was engaging with a lot of it a few years ago when I was writing Theories of Performance. I don't know if that's obvious in that book's poems, though--readers will have to tell me!
Initially I would have said that music is unimportant, because its superficial elements aren't easily recognized in my work, even when I write lyrically. But that ignores the truth of music as context for the work--again, in non-obvious ways. My father & husband are both musicians, as was my mother (lots of musicians in my extended family on both sides, too). I am significantly not a musician, though I did sing until transition & illness sort of mangled my voice. I think the real importance of music to my poetry lies in the connection between a bodily-felt awareness/relationship with rhythm, from having family members & friends practicing, learning pieces of music, giving concerts or recitals, all around me. Perhaps that created a sort of subliminal auditory sense I could apply to my own work, because I am very interested in the "mouthfeel" as well as the sounds of words, what one might call their musicality. I don't necessarily feature this in the work, but it's often present. I also find myself using very loose internal rhyme in some poems or batches of poems. I suppose all of this makes sense in terms of that ambient musical vibration.
Another important connection is with ancient Greek drama, which is a large influence on my writing lately. I have a theatre background that probably enters into this mix. The "sung" quality of Greek drama comes through even on the page in contemporary translation, in a way that is fascinating to me, which is why I was engaging with a lot of it a few years ago when I was writing Theories of Performance. I don't know if that's obvious in that book's poems, though--readers will have to tell me!
Tuesday, 28 April 2020
Jay Besemer : part three
What other poetry books have you been reading lately?
This is such an important question. I have to answer with names rather than titles because I read in bulk & re-read often. Lately I have been having a hard time keeping up with all my fellow trans & gender non-conforming poets' books & other publications--what a wonderful problem to have! But I'm reading Jayy Dodd, Cyree Janelle Johnson, Oliver Baez Bendorf, Sam Ace, Trace Peterson, Adrian Silbernagel, Zoe Tuck, Joanna C. Valente, others I'm likely forgetting.
I'm also reading Mathias Svalina, Brandon Shimoda, Stacy Szymaszek, Olivia Cronk, Philip Sorenson, Daniel Borzutzky, Toby Altman, Nicholas Alexander Hayes, Julia Cohen, Keith S. Wilson, Douglas Kearney, Joyelle McSweeney, Johannes Görannson, Kim Hyesoon, Bhanu Kapil, Nikki Wallschlager, Fred Moten, W.S. Merwin, Robert Duncan & Tristan Tzara. Again, probably forgetting people.
I've been subscribing to a lot of presses lately; it's a great way to support poetry publishing & the presses where the books by my favorites originate--plus it's cheaper than buying each individually. I subcribe to Ugly Duckling Presse's translation series & Kenning Editions; in the past I've done Omnidawn subscriptions. I also often order in batches from presses--I do this frequently with ActionBooks, Nightboat, The Song Cave, & The Operating System.
This is such an important question. I have to answer with names rather than titles because I read in bulk & re-read often. Lately I have been having a hard time keeping up with all my fellow trans & gender non-conforming poets' books & other publications--what a wonderful problem to have! But I'm reading Jayy Dodd, Cyree Janelle Johnson, Oliver Baez Bendorf, Sam Ace, Trace Peterson, Adrian Silbernagel, Zoe Tuck, Joanna C. Valente, others I'm likely forgetting.
I'm also reading Mathias Svalina, Brandon Shimoda, Stacy Szymaszek, Olivia Cronk, Philip Sorenson, Daniel Borzutzky, Toby Altman, Nicholas Alexander Hayes, Julia Cohen, Keith S. Wilson, Douglas Kearney, Joyelle McSweeney, Johannes Görannson, Kim Hyesoon, Bhanu Kapil, Nikki Wallschlager, Fred Moten, W.S. Merwin, Robert Duncan & Tristan Tzara. Again, probably forgetting people.
I've been subscribing to a lot of presses lately; it's a great way to support poetry publishing & the presses where the books by my favorites originate--plus it's cheaper than buying each individually. I subcribe to Ugly Duckling Presse's translation series & Kenning Editions; in the past I've done Omnidawn subscriptions. I also often order in batches from presses--I do this frequently with ActionBooks, Nightboat, The Song Cave, & The Operating System.
Tuesday, 21 April 2020
Jay Besemer : part two
How does your work first enter the world? Do you have a social group or writers group that you work ideas and poems with?
In terms of how the work very first enters the world, period, that can depend on the mode of composition that's taking place. Most often it happens in fountain pen ink in a notebook. I'm a total notebook geek. Occasionally it happens in pencil on the pages of a found text or in collaged elements. It can also first appear in video or still images.
Unless it's in the context of collaborative projects, I don't generally share work with others until I send it out for consideration, or very occasionally to a friend who's agreed to read & comment on a completed book draft. But recently I've been resuming some correspondence, which sometimes involves trading small works in progress. There's no expectation of feedback in that case; it's more a mutual answer to the "what are you working on" question.
I do talk a lot about process, though, with other poets. I'm always interested in how other poets go through their own composition processes. I also enjoy collaborating with others, as I mentioned.
In terms of how the work very first enters the world, period, that can depend on the mode of composition that's taking place. Most often it happens in fountain pen ink in a notebook. I'm a total notebook geek. Occasionally it happens in pencil on the pages of a found text or in collaged elements. It can also first appear in video or still images.
Unless it's in the context of collaborative projects, I don't generally share work with others until I send it out for consideration, or very occasionally to a friend who's agreed to read & comment on a completed book draft. But recently I've been resuming some correspondence, which sometimes involves trading small works in progress. There's no expectation of feedback in that case; it's more a mutual answer to the "what are you working on" question.
I do talk a lot about process, though, with other poets. I'm always interested in how other poets go through their own composition processes. I also enjoy collaborating with others, as I mentioned.
Tuesday, 14 April 2020
Jay Besemer : part one
photo credit: Rupert Glimm
How did you first engage with poetry?
When I was a toddler, I had a book of kids' poems by John Ciardi (with Edward Gorey illustrations!) called You Read to Me, I'll Read to You. (I still have it!) Though I read at a very early age, I learned many of them by heart before I could read because I loved the book so much. I wrote some poetry in bits & pieces when I was in elementary & middle school, but didn't "fall into it" as my life until I was 14 or so. In school there was a definite line between the stuff we were assigned & the stuff that was considered "enrichment" but felt more vital--I grew up in Buffalo, NY, so there were good poetry orgs like Just Buffalo doing youth programs & there were poets-in-the-schools in my high school years. I was fortunate in high school to have access to a university library where I read the Dadas & Surrealists in translation. We had a few close family friends who were poets. Another family friend was an English professor, who used to give me big boxes full of literature & philosophy from his office discards.
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