Interview conducted by Andrew Angu
Spring 2005 -June
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1. Odd (2005)
2. Monje Malo Speaks English (2003)
3. Bad Monk (2002)
Poet from Wisconsin
1. AA: Were you interviewed in a literary magazine before? If yes, can you name the literary magazine which interviewed you? If yes, when or what year?
CPR: No.
CPR: NO
CPR: No.
4. AA: Is "Odd" your first poetry chapbook? If No, what are the titles of your previous poetry chapbooks?
CPR: NO. My other chapbooks are "BAD MONK: NEITHER HERE NOR THERE", "MONJE MALO SPEAKS ENGLISH"
5. AA: How many pieces of the chapbook "Odd" have you sold so far? If you don't mind answering the question.
CPR: All the poems in ODD have been published in one or more print and/or electronic publications. I have not "sold" any of the poems found in ODD, if by "sold" you mean have I made any money on these poems. I have sold copies of ODD that I purchased at a writers rate from Pudding House, about � retail.
CPR: I began writing poetry when I was 45 years old
CPR: I'd have to say, that when the muse finally woke up and called, I just started writing like my pen was on fire. Since that time my poems, short stories and poetry reviews have appeared in over ninety print and electronic publications including: Circle Magazine, Wisconsin Review, Rockford Review, Free Verse, and Clark Street Review. I have received three Pushcart Prize nominations for my writing and most recently read my poetry on National Public Radio's Theme and Variations, a program that is broadcast over seventy NPR affiliates. I completed a novel based on memory titled, THE FATHERS WE FIND from which excerpts have appeared in MusesKiss, Write On!/Just Stories, Iconoclast, Free Verse, Toasted Cheese Literary Journal, Romantics Quarterly, SNReview, Thunder Sandwich and The Wisconsin River Valley Review. In addition to ODD I have also published two other books of poetry. My forth book of poetry; The Last Time will be published by Dark Side of the Moon Press in Tucson, Arizona and is slated for release in 2005. I am also on the board of the Woodland Pattern Bookstore in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
CPR: A girl friend I had at the time thought my love poems were pretty good and I should try to get them published. So she bought me Poets Market and I started at "A" and work my way all the way to "L" and starting to get work accepted and, more importantly, started to learn the forms. So like all or most poets, I began writing poems that were personal - almost a stylized form of Journaling. Over time I moved from the personal to the external.
CPR: I find the "formal" poetry, which often has some element of rhyme in it, tends to distance the reader from the work. It is an overlay or a super-structure on a very personal, dynamic experience. This structure removes the immediacy from the work. I want my meanings to be clear and not some secret code language. However, I have found a few formal poets who manage to surprise me with their ability to use common language, and experience, and place it into a formal style. But these writers are rare and I still believe their writing would be stronger if they eliminated form from it. But each to his own
CPR: Albert Huffstickler and W.B. Yeats. I guess like me they were philosophers, mystics who described life experience as only a poet is able too. Both were so human and so very insightful. Both wrote with such ease, but in vastly different styles. And I might add, that Yeats often wrote in form. So I guess that makes my earlier comments a bit odd, but so it goes.
CPR: YES. Well, I have two Bruce Dethlefsen and Billy Collins. Both Bruce (who is a Wisconsin poet) and Billy Collins (our form Poet Laureate) are mind benders. They twist context and time to effortlessly. They fool you into believing they are taking one place and then drop you off in a world that is quite surprising. Their poetry refreshes my mind and reveals to me, reminds me to never follow a story line, but rather sit in the middle of "theme" and let it take on a life and direction of its own. They are both masterful writers that I enjoy reading.
CPR: Albert Huffstickler and Billy Collins have both influenced me.
CPR: No, or not very often unless I can use that technique to make a point in a free verse poem.
CPR: My work has been nominated for three Pushcart Prizes; I have won a few poetry contests - nothing major
CPR: Sometimes it is just a matter of how you break your lines and structure your stanzas. I have written flash fiction and then structured the text as if it were a prose poem and gotten it accepted flash fiction in one magazine and poetry in another. I hate to say it, but sometimes structure defines the medium. How odd in a way? Generally, one just knows when one is reading a prose poem.....even if it isn't structured as a poem. One will find prose poetry in the body of some novels, BUT it can't drive a narrative story over 60,000 to 100,000 words. Most long prose poems are twenty to sixty pages. Granted some are far longer but, for me, that's a long, hard read. There is a brilliant prose poet named Carole Maso who had won many Pushcart Prizes (one thing to be nominated, quite another to win). I was lucky enough to take a workshop from her when I was just starting to write. She blew my mind. I never conceived of writing prose in such a transcendent manner. She's is a remarkable writer - take a look and ask yourself, "is this poetry or is the prose or is this a prose poem."
CPR: Because they can't make any money selling poetry. Especially new poets. Publishers are, with the exception of some small presses, in the "business" of making money off literature. They will take a chance form time to time on someone they like, but is unknown. But more often then not they will not publish an author if they can't make back their investment. Some small presses will, but big publishers will not
CPR: For unknown writers trying to break in, what other path is there? There are lots of small presses out there who will share the cost of publishing a chap or poetry book with you. This is what I have done with my first three books of poetry - I paid for all the costs. And of course you can always have Kinko's print your book. There is no money to be made in writing poetry. One does it because one loves it. That said, it is also fun to grow a reputation (as long as one doesn't start to take oneself too seriously), to rack up publishing credits and compete (and win) at contests. It validates that your work is good. But mainly we write, because we have to. I sell most of my chap books at readings. And readings also provide you this real feedback - this immediate feedback that tells you if people like your work or not. And what work they like most. Readings are a whole other topic - but, to become good at them one must do them, do them and do them. They are a form of entertainment and to know what works and when, one must test the material on a live audience. Very scary, but also very exhilarating
CPR: My three chap books have been published by two small press publishers. I paid them to publish my book. I got a few free copies of the chap, but basically I paid them to do it. Granted, if they didn't like the quality of my work, they would have passed on it. So (in most cases) even small press published won't publish bad work. I mean, they also have a reputation to build and maintain. But once the matter of quality was dealt with, I paid all the costs. They were not taking any risk relative to recouping their investments via sale of my book. Still, it is important to shop around for the type of small press publisher you want to use. Are they good people, ethical, friendly, do they produce a good product? Some small press publishes will promote your work and some won't. Some will give you a great writer's price on the book (wholesale) and some won't. Some will turn out a wonderful product for the money you give them and some can't. I guess the most important thing is to work with someone you trust and to check with other writers and find out what their experience was with a particular small press. And once you find a publisher you like and who has been good to you, then use them again and tell other writers to use them. Be LOYAL to people who help you along the way
CPR: I also write short stories, novels, essays, articles and reviews.
CPR: ALL
CPR: YES.
CPR: YES . I am currently self-publishing my novel titled, THE FATHER WE FIND: The Making of a Pleasant, Humble Boy. When I find an agent and then a publisher, I will have it published in that manner. It's a very long process.
CPR: When I find a publisher who will pay the full load for me to do that, but frankly, I feel I have published a full-length book of poetry. I don't view chapbooks as some cheap version of a full-length book of poetry. Chaps are the heart and soul of the small press. Poets should do lots of them and be sure to send their chaps out for reviews and mentions. No one will promote your work and your life as a writer better then you
CPR: I wrote some essays in High School.
CPR: I liked Lawrence Ferlinghetti's, A Coney Island of the Mind a great deal
CPR: I enjoy surfing (I surf on Lake Michigan), I work out at the gym daily, and, as I said, I also am working on a second novel
CPR: Divorce. I have two daughters.
CPR: I have performed in about 40 plays, none of them by Shakespeare
CPR: Sheboygan, Wisconsin.
CPR: Sheboygan, Wisconsin.
CPR: Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
CPR:
Grade School: St. Peter Claver Elementary School in Sheboygan, WI
High School: South High School in Sheboygan, WI
College: UW Madison in Madison Wisconsin College
CPR: Communications
CPR: March 16, 1952.
CPR: http://www.literati.net/Ries/
CPR: A PERFECT PLACE, KILLING SEASON, I LOVE, THE MOON WAS JANURY IN WISCONSIN, ODD, POETS NOV
1. AA: Why do you write poetry?
CPR: I write because I have to. It just spills out of me and I feel terribly guilty when I don't get something written down everyday or often
CPR: I like I said, outside of academic circles, most people who read poetry want work that speaks to them in a language they understand and/or can relate to. I feel metered and rhymed poetry distances the read and the writer
If poetry, what is the title of the poem? If short stories, what is the title of the poem?
CPR: I received two Pushcart nominations for Poetry. The names of the poems which were nominated are: "Los Huesos" (the bones) and "Between The Times". My other Pushcart Nomination was for an excerpt from my novel THE FATHERS WE FIND
CPR: I started doing book reviews about four years ago as a favor to some Wisconsin writers that I liked a great deal, and for an editor of a small press zine called Free Verse that is out of Marshfield, Wisconsin. Linda Aschbrenner is the editor of Free Verse and she is also runs a small publishing company call Marsh River Editions. Linda asked if I would review some of the writers she published and I did. Now I do about 15 reviews a year and usually get these reviews placed in 15-20 print and/or electronic publications. I learn a great deal about writing through the review process and I have made some great friends as well. It is my way of supporting the small press and the countless writers who struggle to grow reputation and credibility
CPR: I would say any book is hard to sell if you are not a "named"author. They are hard to sell because one must sell them one reading at a time and, generally, poets don't have much money. And most people reading poetry, are poets. I love poets, but poets are cheap.
CPR: Yes I have, but just a few.
CPR: I am on the board of Woodland Pattern Book Center in Milwaukee (www.woodlandpatter.org) I am also a member of the Wisconsin Federation of Poetry and Wisconsin Regional Writers Association.
CPR: Sufism is the mystical teaching of Islam. 25 years ago, following my graduation from college I took a trip to Europe and met a group of American and Europeans who were Muslims and studying with a teaching Shayke on Meknes, Morocco. It was just too good to pass up. So I jumped in.
CPR: Very Catholic, but I am not a 'Sufi'. After studying most world religions pretty extensive I guess I believe they are many paths to the top of the mountain. The religion that most defines what and how I believe is Buddhism.
CPR: I guess about 20.
CPR: I am a professional fund raiser by day. In 1989 I met a man who was sponsoring the Dali Lama to come to America to speak over a week's times to a gathering of American psychotherapists and religious. I helped him raise some money for this program and, as a result, got to meet the Dali Lama. It was during this time that His Holiness received his Nobel Peace Prize. He is a wonderful man. I guess I have been a Buddhist since that time. I was very lucky.
CPR: In a sense, yes. The book I am working on now is called SEEKER. It is a fictionalized version of my search for God and meaning in all the right AND wrong places. I should be finished with the first draft of SEEKR in about year. I hate drafting and must prefer to rewrite and build on the bones I have already laid down. So, if all goes well, I will complete SEEKER in about 18 months.