Pat King: OK. I think the first question I want to ask has to do with the reading itself [Editor’s note: I’m a moron and forgot to mention that the reading I’m referring to is the A.D.D. Reading in San Francisco on November 3rd.  Please accept my apologies.]  It sounds like a great idea. There are some great names on the list. Who came up with the idea? Is it going to be a regular series?

MK Chavez: Hell-o

(Kathy) Acker's Dangerous Daughters is a great idea and credit goes to Paul Corman-Roberts, Poetry Editor from Cherry Bleeds, poet, pundit, and one of my favorite partners in crime.

The main impetus is the incredible kick ass female talent that's out here. You bet it's going to be a series, it will happen quartely!

PK: I've noticed that the number of female writers in the small/underground/outsider/whatever press is about equal to male writers. But male writers constantly get more exposure. Why do you think this is? Are men more aggressive in submitting work? Or is there something worse going on?

MKC: I’m aggressive about my submission…at least I think I am but maybe I’m submissive about my aggression. I’ll have to ponder this all for much longer...

What I know for certain is that there are many female writers out there that pack a powerful punch. They may just not be where you expect them to be.

I was just at the SF Zine Fest where I ran into Absinthe Faery writer Marina; she puts out a perzine and other stuff. Marina attends high school in Berkeley, Ca. I met her at open mic, where she read some kick ass poetry. Later that same day I was scheduled to read at an Alameda based reading series along some other great female poets. Donna M. Lane was one of those poets; she’s one of my favorite local poets. I try to get out to hear her read whenever I get the chance. I don’t find much of her stuff online. Maybe it’s because she’s a woman, maybe it’s because she’s a lesbian. Who knows?

Julia Vinograd has been around Berkeley FOREVER. She’s highly respected in many circles and has been lauded as Berkeley’s Poet Laureate. She doesn’t own a computer; she types her work at on a typewriter. She sells her books on the street and you’ll probably never find much of her stuff online. There are others, some you may know, others you may not—Jan Steckel, Michelle Keil, Misti Rainwater-Lites, Jennifer Blowdryer, Danielle Willis, Jennifer Barone, Ingrid Keir, and Robin Brooks, and Debbie Kirk, just to name a few.

I could go on like this…there’s tons of chick talent of the most extreme. They’re out there… just look at the women I get to read with at the Acker’s Dangerous Daughter’s Reading on November 3rd, Daphne Gottlieb, Raina Bird, Aleathia Drehmer, and Cynthia Ruth Lewis…

There are no shrinking violets among the female writers that I've mentioned, that’s for sure. We’re just busy that’s all. We’re all over the small/underground/outsider/whatever press world. We’re publishing zines and books, performing, editing journals, running open mics…Maybe there is evil (not the good kind) everywhere, even in the small/underground/outsider/whatever scene but I’m not worried.

PK: Are there any advantages or disadvantages to living in California/the West Coast?

MKC: I don't know that there are disadvantages to living on the west coast per se. It is true that the freak factor is good and there's a place for everything and everyone. That said, I've had no trouble finding the good freaks wherever I travel. I'm a big fan of both the east coast and probably the south too, though I've only spent time in NOLA.

john sweet is my favorite east coast poet and he swears by harsh east coast winters. I also have a soft spot for a little place in upstate New York called Hancock.

There are all sorts of ways people are making it around here and sure there's some folks who are moving to places like Portland, Oregon but there's also lots of people who are staying and doing interesting stuff with community.

Whether it's sharing a warehouse space with other like minded deviants or just supporting each others creative endeavors, it seems to be happening.

One of my favorite examples of west coast cutting edge creativity is RAD DAD: a zine about fathering in dangerous times. Sometimes inspiration goes a lot further than a buck.

I decided a long time ago that I didn't ever want to lock myself into a way of life where I couldn't do what I love because of money. It's worked so far.

PK: Do you think the region influences your work at all?

MKC: Yeah, I suppose it does to some extent. There are just things that are specific to certain places.

The first strip club that I ever worked at...the one with two ton owner who wore so many gold chains and gold rings on every finger on his hand, and the woman working the bar who's arm was in a sling. Yeah, that's a regional influence. There are strip clubs everywhere but there's something unique about the north beach strip clubs during their heyday.

I write a lot about people. So, my region comes up in that way too. I've written about the Market St.Cinema and I've written about my relationships,and my friends who live here or have at some point.

I don't write about leaves and trees even though the west is beautiful in all those ways. It's 18th & Capp, the tenderloin, and the strippers, dives, divas, druggies, and trannies that make the devil in me write.

PK: Right! I have to say that I didn't really notice much regional influence in your work but when you put it that way, it makes total sense. I was wondering, too, if you've lived in the area all your life or if you've lived other places? Do you travel much?

MKC: I've lived in

Bristol & London. England
Elk Grove, CA (holy moly, what was I thinking)
Sacramento, CA
Rainier, Oregon (this must somehow be connected to Elk Grove I just know it.)


I traveled, still travel and I expect that I'll travel more...I'd like to hit more international places. I haven't been out of the country for awhile. I was traveling around Europe when I got caught up in Bristol...kind of strange given all the other sunnier and more exotic locations that I visited (not that I'm knocking the impact of not seeing the sun for 29 days straight at a time during winter time. um, me thinks it makes for interesting writing.)

I dig road trips. Really dig them. I'm always up for a road trip.

PK: Cool. I'd just like to ask one final question before I let you go: What is the writing process like for you? How do you write? When do you know a piece is "finished?"

MKC: When I write I feel possessed. I do it as much as I can, it's like sex, it's like food, it's like air, it's like something else too but I don't talk about that...I need to do it to survive.

I'm a mom with two artist kids. I have two freaky dogs. I just went back to school and I have friends that I have to see or at least speak to (damn them for living in New York) to retain sanity so I'm a sneaky wench about the where and the how of writing. Sometimes I'm writing and I'm sleeping, or talking to you, or engaged in some other activity.

Finished? It's like relationships, sometimes you're done, finished. Done. And then there's all the other variations within that framework: you wish you were done, you don't want to be done you're enjoying it so much, you're done but you can't leave it alone even though you know you should.

Last update : 25-10-2007 22:26

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