ChicagoPostmodernPoetry.Com

Poetic Profile

Cole Swensen

General Questions

1) Where did you grow up? Was poetry and writing part of that mix?

I grew up just north of San Francisco, and started writing when I was about 11, so I guess it was part of the mix. Books were very much around the house, and my mother in particular was connected to the arts. She was a painter, and then went into art history, so the arts always seemed a familiar and valuable category.

2) Who are your poetic influences, favorite poets, writers, artwork,other things that inform your work?

They're too numerous! Contemporary poetry, definitely. Anything published by Burning Deck. Anything published by Granary Books. And French poetry, both contemporary and 19th century. I'm also often influenced by painting---particularly pre-Renaissance and post-Impressionist work, I think for the use of distortion.

3) When did you 'become' a poet, when did poet become part of your everyday life?

When I was around 11 or 12.

4) Where were you educated? Was this important?

I got my BA and my MA at San Francisco State and my PhD at U. of California at Santa Cruz, and yes, I think it was important because I both loved it and learned a lot. Particularly at Santa Cruz---there are some wonderful people there---Nate Mackey, Jim Clifford, Dick Terdiman. And I spent a year in London during my BA studying bookbinding and calligraphy, which was a real treat, and then continued studying bookbinding privately for another 10 years.

5) You have been many places and today you are at Iowa, not known for being an experimental poet location, what is that like?

Iowa's great, actually! And though it's not known for being experimental, a lot of the students here are doing very experimental stuff. I think Iowa's stuck with a reputation that it earned in the 70s and 80s, but things have changed here a lot, and at the moment, there's real variety, and the emphasis is on experiment---check out books by recent graduates, such as Sandra Miller's Oriflamme, which is about to come out from Ashata Press---marvelously out there.

5.1) Your new book, Goest (Alice James, 2004) is so different from most American poetry books, the French influence is profound where does the work originate?

I'm glad it seems different---which then strikes me as odd---why would one want to be different? I'm always a little puzzled by the fetish for originality, yet participate in it fully. As for where that work comes from---in part, it's trying to mix a minimalist leaning with music.

6) What is your favorite food?

Coffee ice cream.

7) Sports Team? or Activity?

I'm not a fan of team sports---particularly spectator sports. I'd rather be out doing something. Especially walking---I love to walk, and particularly through urban areas. The woods are ok, but I'd prefer a city.

8) Vacation spot?

Italy or France.

9) Curse word?

Rats!

Craft Questions

1) How do you form a poem?

I don't know. Lately, I've been reading a lot, and will start writing in response to words that stand out on the page.

2)Is poetry and organic or synthetic process for you?

Organic, if I get what you mean. I don't take other texts and collage or mix them.

3) Where do you write? Is Ambiance important?

Do you have rituals or habits when you write? Lately, I've been doing all my original drafts in Paris during the summers when I have lots of time, and then I tinker with them during the winter. Last summer I did all my writing in the Luxembourg Gardens, and will do that the rest of my life if I have a chance. I have always been in love with that place. During the winter, I do all my work at a desk in my apartment next to a window that looks down on trees and a brick street. Ambiance isn't important, but a window is.

4) In the balance between found language and created language where does your work fall?

Again, if I understand you here, it would be created language. I very rarely use other people's phrases in my work.