Interview: Brendan Constantine discusses "Calamity Joe"

To say that Brendan Constantine is a force of nature is like saying that plant leaves contain chlorophyll. For many L.A. poets, his work and performance are indelibly etched in the memory – and will stay there. His poetry is iconic (among other things, he's been nominated for California Poet Laureate), as is his generosity, in his work with other poets of all ages (particularly with young adults). One can't go to an open mic without hearing someone read a poem written by/inspired by Brendan, who continues to inspire a level of creativity, and literacy that is sorely needed in the So Cal poetry scene.

Brendan very graciously took time from his current tour to answer a few questions about his new collection of poetry, Calamity Joe (copyright 2012 Red Hen Press). Thank you, Brendan!

AKP: Please explain, in detail, what events - internally and poetically - led to the formation and publication of Calamity Joe?

BC: The original cycle of ‘Joe’ poems (there are three in the final book) appeared in 1997. Without going into a prolonged diagnosis, I was experiencing some emotional disorientation at the time: a death, challenges in the family, you know... life. I’d also begun to notice a strange nostalgia for things that I’d never experienced. I started to write poems about this ‘place,’ but I was uncomfortable naming names. How could I share these poems with anyone? And then two things happened:

The first was I read the work of Fernando Pessoa. Among other things, Pessoa is credited with a literary device known as the Heteronym. Unlike a ‘persona’, a heteronym doesn’t commemorate anyone actual: it is (to my mind) an alternate psychology created by an author as a means of speaking in a particular way. It is not an alias or nom de plum. Neither is it just a fictional character OR anything more than that. Wow, I could do this for a long time... Moving along now...

The second thing was I got to see this principal in action. Poet Peter Everwine came through on a tour for (I think) Carnegie Mellon’s reissue of his 1972 prize winning book, Collecting The Animals. In it, there’s a poem where the speaker admits to jealousy for his brother’s carefree life, his drunken returns with pollen in his hair and a moony face. At the end of the poem Everwine describes what he wants to do to his brother, how he’d like to punish him by sending him back out with a stone in each shoe, “and no bread in his pocket.”

He read this poem at a venue downtown and afterward a woman in the audience asked how he could be so cruel to his brother. Everwine said he wasn’t cruel. Then added, “And, I don’t have a brother.”

These may not seem like big epiphanies, but they were what I needed at the time. I dove into my work, liberated by these examples. Somewhere in the process I became aware of a feeling that many other artists have described as discovering their art rather than creating it. Joe ‘appeared’ and began to coach me. We talked for the next ten years.

AKP: Calamity Joe is represented by a cast of characters: The Cancer, The Mother, The Brother, The Old Man, The Boy, The Nine-Fingered Girl, and The Lily. What parts of “you,” are contained within these archetypes, and how much is based on people you actually know?

BC: Well, I don’t work in a lab (like Joe), nor am I soon to be the last living member of my family. I’ve never joined a search party and, like Peter Everwine, I didn’t grow up with a brother. All I can say is that Joe’s grief is mine. His hope is mine. But I’m not Joe.

AKP: How are your readers reacting to Calamity Joe over your previous book, Birthday Girl With Possum (copyright 2011 Write Bloody Press), and what, on tour, are you – as an author - experiencing for better/worse, with this new volume than with the previous collection?

BC: Response to the book has been very encouraging. People really seem to be enjoying it. What I find very gratifying is when I hear people say they’ve re-read it. I’ve been blessed (no, DAMN lucky) to be able to publish three books in three years, and, in each case, I have tried to create volumes that can be re-read in different ways. That is, I don’t think it’s enough just to compile my ‘greatest hits,’ I want a book to be its own complete experience, its own larger poem. In other words, a book of poems isn’t something to solve, it’s a place to dwell.

On this most recent tour, I’ve had only positive responses. No one has declared a preference for one book over the other. At least, not to me! I must add that my previous book, Birthday Girl With Possum, is not yet a year old and I’m still actively promoting it. While both books have very different aims, they don’t seem to conflict with each other. I’m able to read from both books in the same venue and they ‘get along.’

AKP: Obviously, there is a HIGH level of craftsmanship with each of your books (Dante's Casino, Letters to Guns, Birthday Girl With Possum), however, with CJ, you appear to have committed wholeheartedly to your role as a poet, and all that implies (artist, prophet, social commentator, anarchist, etc)? Why/Why not would you agree with this?

BC: That’s quite a statement. I like to think that I grow and change all the time, but in regards to Joe, I’m not aware of a shift in my approach; there are sections of Joe that are at least as old as my first book. What is perhaps different is that with Joe I needed different tools, but they came from the same box. You see, I think that the cause of the poet is poetry. All of the tools – meters, sonics, conceits, even contexts – are there to help the poem become. That’s not to say that I’m not responsible for what I say, but every word is an effort to say more than itself, to say something I can’t, in fact, say - something higher than prophesy, social commentary, anarchy, etc. Everything I use, every subject I raise, is a means to something above it, a means to the ineffable, which is art.

AKP: Creatively speaking, what is next on the horizon for you?

BC: I had one project ready to go but it got shot down. I’d hoped to do a book of poems in the voice of a minor character from American literature, a woman in prison for murder during the Great Depression and all of WWII. When I approached the estate of the character’s creator, they were very kind, but ultimately uncomfortable with anyone developing the character beyond the original story. I totally understood, but it left me rather spun – I was really inspired and dying to start work and then, suddenly there was no point in doing it. I’m being very careful not to say too much because I really admire this author. I know some people might say, “What the hell, be true to your muse! Write it anyway,” but ethically I can’t bring myself to work on something that would annoy the family of a writer I love. What kind of tribute is that?

So, I’m writing something else, and as always, trying to do so outside of my zone(s) of comfort. There’re a few publications on the way: a new piece coming in Zyzzyva, three new poems in the Beloit Poetry Journal. I’m truly honored to have the regard of these editors. Don’t know what I did right.

Beyond that, I continue to teach. Before resuming my classes at the Windward School this fall, I’m going back to Idyllwild Arts and the amazing kids at the Children’s Center. Both of these schools provide exceptional environments for cultivating creativity.

What I’m proudest of these days is the work I get to do with a group called The Art of Elysium. This organization brings artists of all disciplines to work closely with children challenged by serious medical conditions. I hope everyone who reads this will check them out.

They’ve only recently started to work with writers and I believe I’m their first poet. Actually, they’re still trying to figure out what to do with me! For the last couple of years I’ve been visiting facilities like Kaiser Hollywood and going from ward to ward, doing workshops with various kids. Some are too sick or encumbered to even hold a pen, (I may have to wear a mask, smock and gloves just to approach them), so we craft things by talking them out and they dictate. It’s always different, always a surprise. By the way, I’m on the lookout for good prompts that can be done at a bedside. If anyone has suggestions, please let me know!

Note: All of Brendan's books are available through his website, as well as tour dates.

photos courtesy of the Brendan Constantine website

article content copyright 2012 marie lecrivain

Interview with Wolfgang Carstens, author of "Crudely Mistaken For Life"

     Wolfgang Carstens is a busy man; poet, publisher, editor, husband, father, social commentator, intelligent anarchist, etc. He's a prolific and powerful writer whose poems in Crudely MistakenFor Life (copyright 2010, Epic Rights Press), are, in a word, unforgettable. I was curious to find out what motivated Wolfgang to put together this particular collection, and he graciously took time to answer some questions regarding CMFL, his writing process, and what's next on his literary horizon.

      Q: What prompted you to write Crudely Mistaken for Life, and why Death? Why the preoccupation with that particular topic?

      A: Crudely Mistaken for Life was written during a time when Death starting hunting down my family and friends and picking them off one by one. For an entire year, I was either returning from a funeral or preparing for one. At some point, I went numb and the words just started gushing from my fingertips like a broken faucet. Even on the day that Crudely Mistaken for Life was released, my great friend, Todd Moore, passed away.

     Death isn’t something I dwell on, yet it’s never far away from my thoughts. Death is what gives life perspective and value. As a poem from Crudely Mistaken for Life explains:

only the dead

the living complain

about birthdays—

only the dead are thankful

for every year above ground;

the living complain

about aches and pains—

only the dead are thankful

to feel anything at all;

the living complain

that death devalues life—

only the dead are thankful

that death gives life value;

the living complain

about becoming the dead—

only the dead are thankful

to be part of the living;

only the dead celebrate

the living,

only the dead celebrate

the dead.

only the dead celebrate

every sunrise,

every kiss,

every hug,

every orgasm

above

blades

of

grass

     Q: Crudely Mistaken for Life is filled also with moments of appreciation for life, as in the poem, “Lines for Betsy,” your chronicle of a ride on a runaway horse, which has a killer ending (no pun intended):

the living don’t appreciate

those rare moments

when the monotony of life is broken

by the sheer energy of being alive

only the dead could appreciate such moments

their pounding heart

as it threatens to burst from their chest;

the flesh separating as the blade slices

through their wrist;

the cool wind as it whips through their hair

to the skull beneath—

chilling them to the core.

     Would you say that your collection is a cautionary tale to those of us who are still corporeal, an homage to those in your life who have passed on, or both? Why/why not?

     A: My most prominent memories are those moments when the monotony of life was shattered by the sheer exhilaration of being alive. These moments teach us that by living our lives to the fullest, we can live every day with that same intensity.

     Crudely Mistaken for Life is intended as a wake-up call. Don’t wait until tomorrow because tomorrow never comes. There is NOW and there is a GRAVE. There is a steel beam waiting to drop on your head. You’ll never know where or when it will hit. As soon as you close your eyes and start stumbling through life like a sleepwalker, you’re already DEAD. Don’t take anything for granted. Wake up!

Life is

too short

to waste

on the wrong jobs,

the wrong relationships,

the wrong ideas.

soon enough

you’ll be planted

on the wrong side

of the grass.

if you’re looking

for a foundation stone

upon which to rebuild

here it is:

remember that you must die.

be ruthless

in the choices you make,

in the company you keep,

in the pursuit of happiness.

live to the point of tears.

(you haven’t much time)

     Q: You, Rob Plath, and David McLean all write with some authority on Death. How do your ideas and poetry styles influence one another? 

     A: David McLean is one of the most unique poets of our generation. McLean’s work illustrates that even pop culture can be used in a way that’s timeless and memorable. His book, Hellbound, for example, consists of forty-three poems about Clive Barker’s popular Hellraiser movie franchise. I don’t know anyone except David McLean who could make a book like this work.

     I’ve learned many things from reading the work of Rob Plath—most notably that you need to write like “an ogre is banging at the door,” to be brutally honest, and to just get the poems out. Don’t be a dictator, man, unload those poems in whatever way you can: beer shit, autopsy report, grocery list, hate letter, etc.

     Another poet whose work inspires me is John Yamrus. John Yamrus (to borrow something from a recent critic of his work) is not only doing things nobody has ever done before, he’s doing things nobody has ever thought about doing. Yamrus gets the reader involved in his work, creating these intimate moments between writer and reader—making them a part of the poem. There is something magical surrounding the work of John Yamrus.

     Until I read books by Henry Denander, I’d always considered the question, “Which books would you want to have if you were stranded on a desert island,” to be a dumb one. When I read Denander’s poetry, it helps me remember those small details in my own life that I’d forgotten because I thought they were insignificant. Denander’s books inspire me to write poetry!

     Since we’re talking about influences, I’m also on record as saying that William Taylor Jr. is one of the finest poets of this (or any other) generation and that Todd Moore has written some of the best poetry the world has never seen.

      Q: A good portion of your poetry is dedicated to family members; your father, your grandmothers. How do you think they would react to your portrayals of them, of yourself, if they had a chance to read your collection?

     A: Great question! I think they’d be mortified.

     Brutal honesty has always been the cornerstone of my writing. I’ve never shied away from any topic and when I hit bone, instead of backing away like some writers do, I sink my scalpel in even deeper. The very notion that what I’m writing about is making me uncomfortable is a great indication that I’m on the right path. I’ve heard about famous writers who say their writing improved when their parents died because they didn’t have to worry about their reactions anymore. I also know great writers who won’t write about certain topics (like past relationships, for example) because they fear how others will react. I say, “Fuck that! Open the femoral artery and leave some blood on the page!” The very act of being too afraid to really live is the main theme in my book. You better wake up while you still can.

      Q: Being an editor, a husband, and a father of five is a lot of work. When do you find time to write? Do you find that these other roles interfere /inspire your writing? Why/why not?

      A: Most of my writing happens inside my head. When I pick up the pen, it’s merely a process of transcription. An idea may stew in my brain for days before it comes out. When it does, it happens very quickly. I carry a notebook around with me, jotting things down when I can. Every scrap of paper, it seems, has something written on it. In my biography, I say that my “poetry and prose are printed on the backs of unpaid bills,” and this is quite true. I write on the backs of bills, on any white space on the front, and on both sides of the envelope. I’ve even been known to write on walls.

      Q: You are a poet who is clearly inspired by the immediacy of your environment. How do other influences (literary, political, ecological, etc.), shape your work?

      A: The main influences on my writing are my experiences, memories, and my family. I rarely pay attention to anything else. It was Schopenhauer who wrote that it’s not only important what you read, but also what you don’t read. You need to figure things out on your own. I can’t honestly think of any one writer or thinker that has directly influenced my thoughts or my writing style. Another great quote by Schopenhauer was that inspiration was having something important to say and knowing who you were saying it to. I would also add that you should always strive to say it well. These three things are something every writer needs to figure out on their own. If you ape another’s style or themes then really what’s the point in writing anything at all?

      Q: What kind of reaction/feedback are you getting from Crudely Mistaken for Life, both good and bad?

      A: The reaction to Crudely Mistaken For Life has been overwhelmingly positive. I haven’t received a bad review yet. What I really love about CMFL reviews is the strong emotions my book evokes. I find reviewers who are normally quite reserved dropping F-bombs and saying things like “Live. Motherfucker. Now.”

      A number of great things have happened with CMFL. It was placed on the “recommended reading list” at Small Press Distribution, portions were nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and selected poems have been translated into numerous languages. My book is presently stocked in numerous public and academic libraries around the world—including Ivy League schools like Yale and Harvard. Additionally, my book was recently adopted for classroom study in a North American university.

     Crudely Mistaken for Life is presently stocked in hundreds of bookstores around the world. You can buy the book in Japan, for example, or Sweden or practically wherever you live—and that, to me, is really cool. The readings have been phenomenal, and that, I suppose, is where the hard work gets done.

     Saying all of this, Crudely Mistaken for Life hasn’t even surfaced yet. What has happened is only the tip of the iceberg—I’m proud of this book—I want EVERYONE to read it—and I’ll continue promoting it until the day I die.

      Q: What is your next project?

      A: My immediate project is a collection of short prose poems and stories that center around my roles as husband, father, madman and son. There’s a fair amount of humor in these new works and I’ve received great responses at readings so far. Selected material from the new book has been published by ERP, Pigeon Bike, Lummox Press, and Ebullience. What I love about my new book is that it adds new dimensions and concrete images to my previous body of work. These new pieces are very different from Crudely Mistaken for Life.

      I can’t say with any certainty about when the new book will be released because (as my editor, David McLean, will attest) I tend to sit on my books like eggs—making sure I’m completely happy with the final product before it sees the light of day. Right now, it’s a matter of arranging the material into the best possible story it can be.

     Here’s a sample piece from the new book:

      There’s been a team of electricians in our house all week trying to determine why the power in our bedroom keeps going out. After stripping away the drywall, they discovered that a bad connection had started a fire in the junction box above our bed. Explaining the situation to my wife, she just shrugged her shoulders, then said “That’s ironic. I could’ve sworn there hasn’t been any fire in our bedroom for over a decade.”

      Anyone who wants to know more about me or my books can learn more at wolfgangcarstens.com. or through the ERP website at epicrites.org.

Crudely Mistaken For Life, copyright 2010 Wolfgang Carstens, Epic Rites Press, 978-0981184463, 93 pages, $20. Available through epicrites.org or amazon.com

Photos courtesy/property of Wolfgang Carstens and Epic Rites Press

Poetry/Prose excerpts copyright 2012 Wolfgang Carstens

Article content copyright 2012 Marie Lecrivain