ANSELM BERRIGAN INTERVIEW

from chicagopostmodernpoetry.com:

I like to curse. Fuck and all of its variations are deeply ingrained in my language-mind. I think fuckface is one of the funniest terms of all time.

I had this one job working in a windowless office, and I used to write in it, but the poems often had nothing in them because there was nothing in the room to see. It was a ridiculous job. I was supposed to answer the phone, but the number was unlisted. I was supposed to let people in, but the door was locked and no one knew we were there.



It’s very interesting to me, finally, to note that more and more poets seem to come out of the woodwork every week, while large publishers have essentially given up on poetry. And they should. They do it poorly, they don’t know how to distribute it, and, mainly, poetry is unmarketable. It doesn’t want to be sold. When Jewel sells a gazillion books of poetry it’s her name that is being sold. We are at a point where poetry is almost totally underground, while being more popular than ever in this country.