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Poetry Talk with Bryan Dietrich (Part 1)
A very odd thing has been happening since I’ve been lucky enough to become an author. As I’ve been out promoting the book (which deals primarily with the subject of Love), I’ve found myself fielding more questions about my various superhero poetry projects than about my actual published book of poems about Love. Somehow, my unpublished superhero poetry manuscript seems to overshadow the Love manuscript which has actually made its way into print.
Strange (yet exciting) days.
One of the questions I’m asked most often is “what or who” inspired me to write superhero poetry. Well, while the answer to the question of what inspired my affinity for superhero poetry is both long and complex, the story of who inspired me to write superhero poetry is short and succinct: Bryan Dietrich.
I came across Bryan’s first book Krypton Nights in my undergraduate studies at UNCW (thanks to Lavonne Adams) and, while the idea for writing superheroes into my poetry had been there for quite a while, Bryan Dietrich and Krypton Nights gave me the “permission” I was looking for to actually begin writing it.
So, it is with great personal satisfaction that I’ve been able to meet Bryan (virtually) and form a friendship. Almost as exciting was when Bryan agreed to field a few questions for me regarding poetry, superheroes and writing in general.
The end result of that Q&A will be presented here in a two-part interview. Bryan’s comments on both poetry and writing were so rich and elucidating that a single post would not have done him justice. (Expect the second part of this interview next weekend.)
For those of you unacquainted with Bryan’s body of work, here’s the skinny on Bryan’s breathtakingly impressive body of work:
Bryan D. Dietrich is the author of a book-length study on comics, Wonder Woman Unbound, and six books of poems: Krypton Nights, Universal Monsters, Prime Directive, Love Craft, The Assumption, and The Monstrance. He is also co-editor of Drawn to Marvel, the world’s first anthology of superhero poetry.
He has published poems in The New Yorker, The Nation, Poetry, Ploughshares, Prairie Schooner, The Paris Review, The Harvard Review, Yale Review, Shenandoah, Open City, Asimov’s Science Fiction, Witness, Weird Tales, and many other journals. Having won The Paris Review Poetry Prize, a “Discovery”/The Nation Award, a Writers at Work Fellowship, the Isotope Editors’ Prize, a Rhysling Award, and the Eve of St. Agnes Prize, Bryan is a five-time finalist for the Yale Younger Poets Series and has been nominated multiple times for both the Pushcart and the Pulitzer.
Now, without further ado, Poetry Talk with Bryan Dietrich (Part 1):
JM: Before we get down to the topic of sonnets, I’d like to begin with a pretty basic question, something to help us get to know a little more about you as a poet: when did you begin making poetry a career goal and what made you decide to intertwine pop culture so intimately with your art?
BD: Let me first say that I always imagined I would be a comic book artist. Ever since I can remember, my life has revolved around comic books and comic-book-like stories—Star Trek, The Night Stalker, Twilight Zone, Outer Limits, The Six Million Dollar Man, Man from Atlantis, The Prisoner, etc. What excited me then, and what still excites me now, is that which haunts the edges of the unexplained, the ineffable.
Dive deeper…
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Upcoming Readings
Hello, All. Just a little quick housekeeping today regarding upcoming readings:
The Return to the Dojo
Date: January 28, 2010
Time: 7:00pm
Location: UNCW Campus, Wilmington NC. Kenan Hall, Auditorium.
This will be a reading from my book (We Call This Thing Between Us Love) back at the place where I learned to become a better writer (and maybe even a better person). Therefore, I have dubbed this reading “The Return to the Dojo.”
The Cure for the Common Reading
Date: January 30, 2010
Time: 7:00pm
Location: “Jengo’s Playhouse”. 814 Princess Street, Wilmington NC
As many of you know, good friend Justin Edge and myself have been hosting a series of creative readings for almost two years now. This will be the next installment. The challenge for our readers this time will be that they must incorporate some portion of their favorite literature into their own creative piece. Promises to be awesome!
Here’s our lineup of participants:
Creative readings by:
Josh Spilker
Kiki Vera Johnson
Randy Skidmore
Cheryl Wilder
Erin Sroka
Justin Edge
Jason Mott
Original artwork by:
Andy Wiles
Leslie Wilson Miller
Please come out and enjoy the fun!
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Book Release Party & Recent Article
For those of you in the Wilmington, NC area, I am pleased to announce that the official book release party and book signing for “We Call This Thing Between Us Love” has been scheduled. Please feel free to come out and join me!
Date: Saturday, December 19
Time: 8:00 p.m
Location: Parallelogram (523 S. 3rd Street; Wilmington, NC)
Also, here is an article recently posted in the newspaper “Lumina News” regarding myself and the book:
A promised tomorrow for UNCW poet
by Jenny Yarborough
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Love, Jason Mott—University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW) Creative Writing grad of both undergraduate (2006) and graduate (2008) programs—said, is one of the most overwritten subjects in the world, second only to death. Still, this is the subject he chose to write about in a collection of poetry that was later selected as a finalist in the 2009 Main Street Rag Poetry Contest.
“I would actually say that I didn’t choose the project, but it chose me,” the young poet said. And though Mott admits the topic could be cliché, he explained that doesn’t mean it can’t still be fresh and unique. It just takes more work to make it happen.
Dive deeper…
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Pushcart Prize Nomination
I am very pleased to announced that the following poem has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Very exciting stuff!
Thinly Veiled, the Young Man Comes
to Me Seeking a Friendly Face
(The Joker)
So I’m out and about one day
when this “priest” walks up to me and says,
“Beloved bard, my mother has died
and my father is ill and I’ve lost my faith.”
And I said to him, “But faith’s forever!
Got a lifetime warranty, doesn’t it? I’ve
always wondered about that though,
Whose life?”
But, anyhow, this “priest” said to me,
“God’s become a ghost. An imagination
in my head. He used to feel so real.
I could touch him in my mother’s hands.” Dive deeper…
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