NEXT BIG THINNGIG


Many thanks for Arielle Guy, for bringing me into the Next Big Thing questionnaire. It's floating through a lot of the poetry blogs, and some very cool people have answered. I have also answered. 
-Mike


What is the Working Title of the book?
Notes Book #2: I wanted to use something that was dry, ‘meaningless’ and a little off.

Where did the idea come from for the book?
Since moving to New York a few years ago, I have begun to do a large portion of my writing on the subway. I enjoy it for a lot of different reasons, among them the fact of being a part of this forced collectivity, and the time constraint of writing between destinations. The poems in Notes Book arose from this period of writing.

What genre does your book fall under?
Poetry, squarely.

What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?
The cast of the Mighty Boosh: Julian Barrat, Noel Fielding, Matt Berry, Rich Fulcher and Richard Ayoade.

What is the one sentence synopsis of your book?
‘the spark of a stone is breath, but when no breath only two stones, in cold light, we are watching burn, the second sun.’

How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?
The first draft was done over a period of three months of this subway writing. I edit very heavily, and this is equally as important and the main editing phase took another three months, for six in total.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?
There is one poem, called ‘What is you,’ that, when I wrote it, marked the defining point where I knew I was trying to put together a books worth of material. And that poem came from being on the subway, and there was a medical advertisement above and opposite me, about heart disease, and the way the poles and peoples heads were lining up, the language of the poster read, ‘what is you heart?’ I kept thinking about that phrase, and the rest proceeded from there.


What else about your book might pique the readers interest?
A number of the poems in the book were written specifically to be read in the voice of the poet John Weiners, who has a beautiful, soft Bostonian accent. Also, the structure of placement is pretty interesting, with the longer poems cut up and interspersed throughout. So that will appeal to the segment of readers who enjoy dry, technical details.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
As of now self published, although a few pieces are appearing in small magazines (Poems by Sunday, ed. Dan Owen).

Make up a question you think is pressing in way of poetry today. (put that question here) How do you articulate the idea that poetry offers nothing to be purchased, and how do you tell that to your crowd in a way that will draw them in?