WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.200 align:middle line:90% 00:00:01.200 --> 00:00:04.380 align:middle line:84% One of the features of today's literary landscape 00:00:04.380 --> 00:00:10.540 align:middle line:84% is the sheer number of small presses, both print and online. 00:00:10.540 --> 00:00:16.620 align:middle line:84% Seems that every day there are new presses launched. 00:00:16.620 --> 00:00:19.110 align:middle line:84% Do you see there being pros and cons to this? 00:00:19.110 --> 00:00:22.760 align:middle line:90% 00:00:22.760 --> 00:00:26.920 align:middle line:84% I'm glad they keep coming because the longevity is 00:00:26.920 --> 00:00:28.580 align:middle line:90% definitely an issue. 00:00:28.580 --> 00:00:33.310 align:middle line:84% And to just keep the landscape as lively as it possibly 00:00:33.310 --> 00:00:36.370 align:middle line:84% can be, and as diverse, and interesting, 00:00:36.370 --> 00:00:37.580 align:middle line:90% and fun as it can be-- 00:00:37.580 --> 00:00:39.440 align:middle line:90% I think that's a good thing. 00:00:39.440 --> 00:00:41.200 align:middle line:84% More good conversations, hopefully. 00:00:41.200 --> 00:00:45.560 align:middle line:90% 00:00:45.560 --> 00:00:52.850 align:middle line:84% I think that there are presses, the size of all of ours. 00:00:52.850 --> 00:00:55.970 align:middle line:84% There are micro presses, there are online presses, 00:00:55.970 --> 00:00:59.150 align:middle line:84% there presses of all sorts and types publishing 00:00:59.150 --> 00:01:00.360 align:middle line:90% in all kinds of ways. 00:01:00.360 --> 00:01:04.010 align:middle line:84% And while, sure, once in a while I think, Oh my God. 00:01:04.010 --> 00:01:04.730 align:middle line:90% It's too much. 00:01:04.730 --> 00:01:07.580 align:middle line:84% How can I even find my way around that landscape? 00:01:07.580 --> 00:01:10.640 align:middle line:84% On the other hand, I'm faced with the fact 00:01:10.640 --> 00:01:14.120 align:middle line:84% that sometimes I read something from some press I've never 00:01:14.120 --> 00:01:16.082 align:middle line:84% heard of, and I'm like, wow, I want 00:01:16.082 --> 00:01:17.540 align:middle line:84% to publish that author's next book. 00:01:17.540 --> 00:01:22.710 align:middle line:84% Or I want to keep reading that person for a long time. 00:01:22.710 --> 00:01:27.140 align:middle line:84% So while I would never make the claim that everything published 00:01:27.140 --> 00:01:29.000 align:middle line:90% by every small press-- 00:01:29.000 --> 00:01:32.270 align:middle line:84% that I want spend much time with-- 00:01:32.270 --> 00:01:34.240 align:middle line:84% it does happen that all kinds of presses 00:01:34.240 --> 00:01:35.990 align:middle line:84% are publishing things that I do and that I 00:01:35.990 --> 00:01:38.200 align:middle line:90% know that other people do. 00:01:38.200 --> 00:01:44.700 align:middle line:84% So I guess if there's any con side to it, 00:01:44.700 --> 00:01:48.740 align:middle line:84% it's outweighed by the positive of having, once more, 00:01:48.740 --> 00:01:52.700 align:middle line:90% good work in this world. 00:01:52.700 --> 00:01:54.530 align:middle line:84% I sympathize with readers, though, 00:01:54.530 --> 00:01:58.010 align:middle line:84% who come into poetry wondering, what should I read, 00:01:58.010 --> 00:01:59.120 align:middle line:90% and what should I do? 00:01:59.120 --> 00:02:01.187 align:middle line:84% And then probably all of us in here 00:02:01.187 --> 00:02:03.770 align:middle line:84% would tell you something else, if you really sat down with us. 00:02:03.770 --> 00:02:06.680 align:middle line:84% We'd have different answers to that question. 00:02:06.680 --> 00:02:08.030 align:middle line:90% How do you find your way? 00:02:08.030 --> 00:02:14.150 align:middle line:84% And it takes an amazing act of faith in your own reading 00:02:14.150 --> 00:02:15.920 align:middle line:90% ability to find your own way. 00:02:15.920 --> 00:02:18.410 align:middle line:84% And the fact that that's a different way 00:02:18.410 --> 00:02:21.320 align:middle line:84% for every one of us is completely fascinating to me. 00:02:21.320 --> 00:02:25.860 align:middle line:90% 00:02:25.860 --> 00:02:31.470 align:middle line:84% I think the idea of presses everywhere, it excites me. 00:02:31.470 --> 00:02:37.410 align:middle line:84% I feel that they represent their little local culture. 00:02:37.410 --> 00:02:40.830 align:middle line:84% And I'm very interested in the idea of microcultures. 00:02:40.830 --> 00:02:43.260 align:middle line:84% Not just subcultures or little movements. 00:02:43.260 --> 00:02:48.300 align:middle line:84% But I feel like we comprise a culture here 00:02:48.300 --> 00:02:50.950 align:middle line:84% that is different than the culture in Portland. 00:02:50.950 --> 00:02:56.790 align:middle line:84% And so, I want as many presses to exist as possible. 00:02:56.790 --> 00:02:59.850 align:middle line:84% And there's the thing, like, why did Aretha sing that song? 00:02:59.850 --> 00:03:01.830 align:middle line:90% You know, so you don't have to. 00:03:01.830 --> 00:03:05.440 align:middle line:84% And I feel like the more presses we have, 00:03:05.440 --> 00:03:09.270 align:middle line:84% the better off we're going to be in the whole singing of songs 00:03:09.270 --> 00:03:12.000 align:middle line:90% department. 00:03:12.000 --> 00:03:14.670 align:middle line:84% Also, I'm really excited by the idea 00:03:14.670 --> 00:03:20.880 align:middle line:84% that perhaps in contrast to the big houses, who 00:03:20.880 --> 00:03:24.120 align:middle line:84% are shrinking and being eaten by other big houses 00:03:24.120 --> 00:03:26.310 align:middle line:84% sort of at the top of the food chain, 00:03:26.310 --> 00:03:29.170 align:middle line:84% we are proliferating down here on the ground. 00:03:29.170 --> 00:03:34.560 align:middle line:84% And I think that's worth remarking. 00:03:34.560 --> 00:03:36.770 align:middle line:84% We're the slow food of the literature world. 00:03:36.770 --> 00:03:38.620 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:03:38.620 --> 00:03:46.000 align:middle line:90%