Being Antisocial: Pat King interviews David Blaine

Pat King: So, David, how are ya? Your third book, Antisocial is the first in the OW chapbook series. How does this publication feel compared to your other chapbooks?

David Blaine: I’ve always felt bashful about asking people to buy my self published stuff because, well, it was self published. But having someone else decide to publish my work gives me more confidence that my writing really doesn’t suck. Plus when I’m asking people to buy it, I explain that the proceeds will help the group publish another author, so it doesn’t feel as selfish either.

PK: Well, this is a collective, so it’s not totally someone else publishing your work, but I see what you mean.

I want to ask, are you still fairly shy about submitting your work? I remember you saying that it took you a while before you submitted your stuff to journals. Also, are you a late bloomer? That is to say, have you been writing poetry all your life or is it something fairly recent?

DB: I’m not shy about submitting. I’ve learned that there are right and wrong places for my work and I would certainly receive a lot more rejections simply by sending it to the wrong markets.

I’ve been writing since I was a child, but only getting work published about five or six years. I don’t know about a late bloomer, but I’m having a hell of a lot more fun as an adult than I ever did as a kid.

Pat King: So, the title of the book is Antisocial. Why?

DB: There isn’t a single, simple answer. Obviously some of the poems are about antisocial subjects. There are references to teen pregnancy, alcoholism, war, greed, even bestiality. There is also the fact that these topics don’t make socially acceptable dinner table conversation, which is paradoxically antisocial in itself. And there is the antisocial nature of the outsider, the person who can’t get comfortable living in close proximity to others. If you had to live the rest of your life either alone, or constantly in the presence of someone else, which would you choose? I know what my choice would be.

PK: Jesus, man! How dare you! Bestiality is a very social activity. How else is one supposed to get to know their pets inside and out?

In the introduction to the book John Dorsey called your poetry “dark and deeply personal.” I agree with this, but I also think that the darkness is balanced by sharp humor. Is humor important in poetry? In literature in general?

DB: Life is dark, but as I point out in “This is also not the poem,” we interpret the light in our lives by its relationship to the dark. As for being personal, sure, but these are themes every thinking person can relate to. Unfortunately for us, the world seems to be ruled by mostly unthinking people.

I think entertainment is important in literature, unless you’re a lexicographer.

My personal feeling is that too many poets worry about just sounding profound. At the beginning of “History’s Child” I write, “Fact tells a man…no, it wasn’t good for her too.” At readings the audience moves to the edge of their seats and listens to every word after that line. They love it, they don’t want to miss another line like that. It’s a great attention getter. Nobody is snoring off or wondering what to make for supper for the rest of that poem.

Even when an author doesn’t use humor, a written work should do more than just communicate information. Entertainment is the key, humor is just one device to implement it.

PK: One of my favorite poems in the book is “Glitterati.” I like it because it’s a story. It’s a prose story and I like prose. But it’s a poem. Or is it prose-poetry? What is prose-poetry? Do we make too much of these things? Is it good that we still separate “poetry” (whatever that is) from “prose” (whatever that is) ?

DB: Recently a reviewer said I wasn’t a poet. That smarts a bit, but hey, what’s in a name? A rose is still a rose, yada yada yada. He went on to say I was a damn fine writer. I don’t like to stick to a particular style. In poetry there are two elements, content and form. Sometimes the content is best expressed in a prose style, and sometimes in a specific form, like a pantoum, or a sonnet.

Glitterati is interesting because it’s autobiographical, and I’m both of the characters in that poem. That poem was written in response to a workshop assignment to write about a legend. It’s cryptic, but the El Dorado is very symbolic. I don’t want to draw you a picture. Obviously you like it, and David Oprava raved about that one too.

PK: Wow, that’s really interesting. So is the poem a conversation between yourself as you are now and the person you might have been had you made different choices?

DB: Let’s just say that from the time my parents moved me from the city to the country, I was planning to pack my El Dorado and head west. Right up until the time I met my wife. I’ve been leaving for forty years. But as Don Henley wrote, all of our friends are here.

PK: Just heard that the beat/punk poet Jim Carroll died. The Basketball diaries, I read in middle school and it was definitely one of my earliest literary influences. Did you read any of the postbeat/punk poets, like Carroll, Richard Hell or Lydia Lunch? What do you think about that kind of poetry in general?

DB: Oh, you’ve stumped me there Pat. I have not heard or read any of those names or even heard of postbeat/punk poetry. I suspect that like any other genre, I’d enjoy some pieces and dislike others. I might even like a few of those poets in particular. But what I look for when reading poetry is a fresh idea, expressed in a compelling manner, in a form that helps the reader interpret the work. That, and I’m looking for the onion effect, the layers of meaning where you get mental whiplash as you recognize additional interpretations in the verse.

PK: Cool. So last question: when you look, oh, let’s say twenty years into the future, what does the world look like in terms of poetry? And where would you like to see it go?

Thanks for doing this interview. It was a pleasure working on your book and I wish you success.

DB: Well every other industry from manufacturing to agribusiness has seen their near collapse in the past few years. Newspapers are on the way out. The Kindle seems to be the next new thing. I’d say that publishing as we have known it in our lifetime will become extinct. People don’t want to read books, they want to watch a screen or listen to ear buds. I think that poetry in particular could be ripped away from the academics and returned to grass roots. Right now they only maintain their control because of government stipends, and the public isn’t going to stand for that forever. In twenty years even fewer people will be interested in poetry, but those who are will know where to find it, and it will probably all be free or very inexpensive. Cost of publishing will be nil if it stays electronic. Print books will be in museums.

A pleasure working with you, and Caleb. I wish us all success! Thanks.

If you haven’t gotten a copy of David Blaine’s Antisocial yet, you really should check it out.  Just click the cover on the sidebar!

OWCAdmin

is the holy bishop to your knight to rook. S/he lords over all you see and touch. Yes, even there.

• View all posts by OWCAdmin →
• Blog