The Next Big Thing

I was tagged by talented poet and wonderful human being, Matthew Guenette (author of American Busboy and Sudden Anthem), to be a part of the self-interview series The Next Big Thing. I interviewed myself about my forthcoming collaborative chapbook with Brynn Saito.

What is the working title of the book?

Bright Power, Dark Peace. It comes from a line by Robinson Jeffers that appears towards the end of the chapbook.

Where did the idea come from for the book?

Brynn and I had both been writing about ruined landscapes and decided to try writing together. Each poem is the name of a location in a ruined city. A young girl is wandering through the ruins, and in each poem, the city speaks to the girl. We'd pass unfinished stanzas back and forth several times so that we each contributed approximately the same amount of lines to each poem. 

What genre does your book fall under?

Poetry.

What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?

 I'd cast a young Rachel McAdams as the girl wandering through the city, Gary Oldman would play the wolf, and the narration of the city would (naturally) be done by Morgan Freeman.

What is the one sentence synopsis of your book?

Exiled girl returns to the city of her birth, which now lays in ruins except for its single resident, a wolf. (Not great, but that's kinda the gist of it.)

How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?

We finished the first draft in a year and a half or so, though we've revisited it since that first draft, and it took about four years between first poem and publication.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

I guess it was my friendship with Brynn that inspired me. We went from living in the same city to living on opposite sides of the country, and writing together was a way to remain close, as well as work on poetry together. 

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

While most of the book was written several years ago, the last poem to be included was written one week before we submitted it to Diode Editions' chapbook contest. (That's interesting, right?)

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

Bright Power, Dark Peace will be published in March 2013 by Diode Editions.

The other writers with new books out I'm excited for are:

The Palace of Contemplating Departure by Brynn Saito
Small Porcelain Head by Allison Benis White
Begging For It by Alex Dimitrov
Tongue Lyre by Tyler Mills