Neu! Reekie! 2
Smoke Gets in Your Mind’s Eye
‘A lot of what I write is about self-delusion. One of humanity’s great traits is that you can delude yourself, so even at a level where you know that you’re deluding yourself, you’ve deluded yourself so that doesn’t even matter. It’s like the kind of people who say, “I’m mad, me!” Well, you’re not mad. You’re not insane. You’re not even mildly wacky. If you have to say, “I’m mad, me!” – you’re not. But the delusion is there.’ This can apply to him, I suggest; where he’s come from since starting out in the book trade, deluding himself over the kind of writer he’d turn out to be, to the place he’s arrived at today – stripped of preciousness and ego, a better writer, and completely and utterly obsessed with delusion.
Gavin James Bower interviews Stuart Evers, author of the forthcoming 10 Stories About Smoking.
Maintenant #50: Fr éd éric Forte
I first discovered Roubaud’s work when I was looking for Oulipian books, after the ‘Queneau trigger’. And it completely turned upside down my conception of poetry. I found out that a poem could be at the same time abstact and lyrical, intimate and formal, playful and deep, a very unique kind of conceptual object… I think Roubaud is the only ‘genius’ that I ever met and also a very kind man, discrete, respectful and not trying to impose his views to the others. He is a master I freely chose but absolutely not a guru! Each Oulipian has his own approach of writing and his own methodologies. For my part, I mostly dedicate my efforts to use fixed forms and invent some new ones… In a way, it’s a ‘tradition’ in the Oulipo history…
In the 50th of the Maintenant series, SJ Fowler interviews the French poet and member of Oulipo Fr éd éric Forte.
Eight Poems
it’s a box to recollect – or lay low – some will eat marrow – not me I aim to resurrect / as an animal coming back – reincarnation in the end – by its awkward taste will offend – on horseback / but peering up a dress – simply isn’t done – just as the commonplace – won’t be broken / so I’ve spent my extended holiday in a tunnel – that’ll teach me for wanting to get all supernatural…
oh my doll – I would that your learning would chart its own depths – you ought to be taking sensible steps – no and again no my doll / should a pressing iron perchance – take a tumble or a fall – it will not have been a bomb at all – something new in breaking shall enhance / that’s the way it is in Bruxelles – you remember that alley well – the sound of white pewter piddling / a king in open country again – you are laughing already riddling – dreaming up a future in champagne…
By Fr éd éric Forte.
3:AM Top 5: Colin Herd
Colin Herd launches his poetry collection too ok – described by Dennis Cooper as a “treasure trove of razzle-dazzle stylings, superfine wit, charismatic discretion, and a vacuuming tenderness” – at Gay’s The Word next Monday (28 February @ 7pm, details here). To celebrate, Colin shares his Top 5 Poetry Books from 1981: The late 1970s […]