WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.290 align:middle line:90% 00:00:01.290 --> 00:00:04.380 align:middle line:84% So we are going to do a short 10 minute Q and A. 00:00:04.380 --> 00:00:07.650 align:middle line:84% And we're going to try a new way of getting 00:00:07.650 --> 00:00:09.240 align:middle line:90% this on the recording. 00:00:09.240 --> 00:00:11.760 align:middle line:84% We were recording this reading for VOCA. 00:00:11.760 --> 00:00:14.398 align:middle line:84% So if you are close to me, I'm going to bring you the mic. 00:00:14.398 --> 00:00:16.440 align:middle line:84% And if you're a far from me, I'm going to listen, 00:00:16.440 --> 00:00:18.850 align:middle line:84% and I'm going to try and repeat your question. 00:00:18.850 --> 00:00:21.180 align:middle line:84% So if you're far from me, keep it very simple-- 00:00:21.180 --> 00:00:22.320 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:00:22.320 --> 00:00:24.750 align:middle line:90% --because I'm not that smart. 00:00:24.750 --> 00:00:25.740 align:middle line:90% So who has a question? 00:00:25.740 --> 00:00:26.823 align:middle line:90% There's a hand back there. 00:00:26.823 --> 00:00:28.150 align:middle line:90% There's a hand way back. 00:00:28.150 --> 00:00:29.190 align:middle line:90% No? 00:00:29.190 --> 00:00:29.690 align:middle line:90% OK. 00:00:29.690 --> 00:00:32.270 align:middle line:90% 00:00:32.270 --> 00:00:32.770 align:middle line:90% Oh, no. 00:00:32.770 --> 00:00:35.710 align:middle line:90% Just signing. 00:00:35.710 --> 00:00:38.500 align:middle line:84% Oh, is there a way that we could get some more light, or-- 00:00:38.500 --> 00:00:39.417 align:middle line:90% Am I getting feedback? 00:00:39.417 --> 00:00:43.822 align:middle line:90% 00:00:43.822 --> 00:00:45.280 align:middle line:84% There's a problem with the lighting 00:00:45.280 --> 00:00:46.473 align:middle line:90% and seeing the interpreter. 00:00:46.473 --> 00:00:47.890 align:middle line:84% Why don't we let this guy forward. 00:00:47.890 --> 00:00:49.300 align:middle line:90% There's a free seat right here. 00:00:49.300 --> 00:00:49.999 align:middle line:84% Since I don't have a question, I just 00:00:49.999 --> 00:00:51.124 align:middle line:90% can't see the interpreter-- 00:00:51.124 --> 00:00:53.680 align:middle line:90% Oh, he has to go [INAUDIBLE]. 00:00:53.680 --> 00:00:54.680 align:middle line:90% OK, what's the question? 00:00:54.680 --> 00:00:56.980 align:middle line:90% He has to go around. 00:00:56.980 --> 00:00:57.640 align:middle line:90% Any questions? 00:00:57.640 --> 00:00:59.050 align:middle line:90% I have a question. 00:00:59.050 --> 00:01:01.159 align:middle line:90% All the way here. 00:01:01.159 --> 00:01:03.624 align:middle line:90% [INAUDIBLE] 00:01:03.624 --> 00:01:07.420 align:middle line:90% I have a question for Joyelle. 00:01:07.420 --> 00:01:10.680 align:middle line:84% I did not expect you to be singing. 00:01:10.680 --> 00:01:12.445 align:middle line:90% So OK. 00:01:12.445 --> 00:01:15.700 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:01:15.700 --> 00:01:18.400 align:middle line:84% How did you get into singing your poems? 00:01:18.400 --> 00:01:21.400 align:middle line:84% I mean, I hope that my poems are rhythmic, also. 00:01:21.400 --> 00:01:23.330 align:middle line:90% But I've never really sung them. 00:01:23.330 --> 00:01:27.190 align:middle line:84% So has this just come up out at home, or did someone 00:01:27.190 --> 00:01:30.100 align:middle line:84% suggest it, or how were you inspired to sing? 00:01:30.100 --> 00:01:32.650 align:middle line:90% [INAUDIBLE] Oh, you got it. 00:01:32.650 --> 00:01:34.760 align:middle line:84% OK, thank you so much for that question. 00:01:34.760 --> 00:01:37.390 align:middle line:84% I mean, I think it's strange if you've gone through like school 00:01:37.390 --> 00:01:39.120 align:middle line:84% to learn how to write poems, and learn how to read poems, 00:01:39.120 --> 00:01:41.390 align:middle line:84% then you're used to writing your poems for the page. 00:01:41.390 --> 00:01:43.760 align:middle line:84% But as soon as I started performing my poems people 00:01:43.760 --> 00:01:45.927 align:middle line:84% would tell me, you should be an actress. 00:01:45.927 --> 00:01:47.260 align:middle line:90% And I'd be like, but I'm a poet. 00:01:47.260 --> 00:01:48.790 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:01:48.790 --> 00:01:51.185 align:middle line:84% Is there's something wrong with me? 00:01:51.185 --> 00:01:52.810 align:middle line:84% Which is a good way to feel for poetry. 00:01:52.810 --> 00:01:55.450 align:middle line:84% You could tell I was in the right game. 00:01:55.450 --> 00:01:59.582 align:middle line:84% So then with each-- so I have three books of poetry. 00:01:59.582 --> 00:02:00.790 align:middle line:90% I have some prose stuff, too. 00:02:00.790 --> 00:02:01.900 align:middle line:90% But so this is my third. 00:02:01.900 --> 00:02:04.390 align:middle line:84% And with each book it's gotten more performative. 00:02:04.390 --> 00:02:08.650 align:middle line:84% And then with this one I really just let the rhythms 00:02:08.650 --> 00:02:10.780 align:middle line:90% and the sound blow through me. 00:02:10.780 --> 00:02:13.970 align:middle line:84% So then it was natural to just let all that sound come through 00:02:13.970 --> 00:02:14.780 align:middle line:90% in the reading. 00:02:14.780 --> 00:02:17.350 align:middle line:84% And finally, with the Glock Chorus these are really songs. 00:02:17.350 --> 00:02:18.070 align:middle line:90% So you're right. 00:02:18.070 --> 00:02:20.050 align:middle line:84% There's been a progression from learning 00:02:20.050 --> 00:02:22.782 align:middle line:84% how to negotiate the page, learning-- 00:02:22.782 --> 00:02:25.240 align:middle line:84% that's how you learn when you first learn poetry at school. 00:02:25.240 --> 00:02:27.940 align:middle line:84% And then realizing that my sound was really 00:02:27.940 --> 00:02:29.078 align:middle line:90% steering me after all. 00:02:29.078 --> 00:02:31.120 align:middle line:84% And to let that come more and more to the surface 00:02:31.120 --> 00:02:31.912 align:middle line:90% and steer the poem. 00:02:31.912 --> 00:02:33.220 align:middle line:90% Until now I just sing them. 00:02:33.220 --> 00:02:35.560 align:middle line:84% But you could see actually percussion grenade 00:02:35.560 --> 00:02:38.312 align:middle line:84% the second thing that I read was actually a hinge poem for that. 00:02:38.312 --> 00:02:40.270 align:middle line:84% Because it starts conversationally in the voice 00:02:40.270 --> 00:02:41.860 align:middle line:90% which is so silly and bombastic. 00:02:41.860 --> 00:02:45.040 align:middle line:84% That it becomes like a weird occupation of my body 00:02:45.040 --> 00:02:45.760 align:middle line:90% with its voice. 00:02:45.760 --> 00:02:47.590 align:middle line:90% So now that's what I want. 00:02:47.590 --> 00:02:51.477 align:middle line:84% I want there to be a shape and sound that just has to get out. 00:02:51.477 --> 00:02:53.560 align:middle line:84% And sometimes I recognize, oh, that's a character. 00:02:53.560 --> 00:02:55.393 align:middle line:84% Like in Glock Chorus it's all in characters. 00:02:55.393 --> 00:02:58.210 align:middle line:84% And sometimes it's just the weird shape of the world, 00:02:58.210 --> 00:03:00.040 align:middle line:90% making weird patterns. 00:03:00.040 --> 00:03:05.110 align:middle line:84% We're presenting strange rhymes, or rhymes that I make. 00:03:05.110 --> 00:03:09.520 align:middle line:84% Like outrageous- microwave-us is probably not a noun. 00:03:09.520 --> 00:03:10.900 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:03:10.900 --> 00:03:11.900 align:middle line:90% But I went with it. 00:03:11.900 --> 00:03:12.400 align:middle line:90% So yeah. 00:03:12.400 --> 00:03:13.780 align:middle line:84% So it has been a development thing. 00:03:13.780 --> 00:03:15.550 align:middle line:84% And also, being sensitive to my own poems. 00:03:15.550 --> 00:03:17.440 align:middle line:84% So letting out the strength of my poems 00:03:17.440 --> 00:03:19.930 align:middle line:84% was in sound, and letting that just ride the poems, 00:03:19.930 --> 00:03:21.820 align:middle line:84% and in a way the poems ride me, too. 00:03:21.820 --> 00:03:24.640 align:middle line:84% It's become very exciting, and for me, unpredictable, too, 00:03:24.640 --> 00:03:27.500 align:middle line:84% because you never know our performance is going to go. 00:03:27.500 --> 00:03:29.268 align:middle line:84% So now it's gotten scary again, the way 00:03:29.268 --> 00:03:31.310 align:middle line:84% it did when I was like in my very first workshop. 00:03:31.310 --> 00:03:31.977 align:middle line:90% And I was like-- 00:03:31.977 --> 00:03:34.300 align:middle line:84% [GASPS] So that's a good sign, I think. 00:03:34.300 --> 00:03:34.885 align:middle line:90% Keep it scary. 00:03:34.885 --> 00:03:39.900 align:middle line:90% 00:03:39.900 --> 00:03:43.180 align:middle line:84% Hi, I just wanted to thank both of you for reading here. 00:03:43.180 --> 00:03:45.780 align:middle line:84% This is really exciting hearing young people, 00:03:45.780 --> 00:03:49.410 align:middle line:84% because as soon as you think the best poets are in their 80s. 00:03:49.410 --> 00:03:51.360 align:middle line:84% So thank you for that, and I had a common-- 00:03:51.360 --> 00:03:52.310 align:middle line:90% I'm in my 80s. 00:03:52.310 --> 00:03:53.600 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:03:53.600 --> 00:03:55.200 align:middle line:90% Zach's had a lot of work done. 00:03:55.200 --> 00:03:57.060 align:middle line:90% You're a very young old man. 00:03:57.060 --> 00:03:58.110 align:middle line:90% Yes. 00:03:58.110 --> 00:04:00.810 align:middle line:90% So I had a comment for Joyelle. 00:04:00.810 --> 00:04:03.600 align:middle line:84% And I had a question for Zachary. 00:04:03.600 --> 00:04:07.620 align:middle line:84% And my comment for Joyelle is I want to thank you 00:04:07.620 --> 00:04:09.720 align:middle line:90% for a phrase you gave me. 00:04:09.720 --> 00:04:12.450 align:middle line:90% That was the chopping list. 00:04:12.450 --> 00:04:15.870 align:middle line:84% Because I spent some time of my childhood in Saudi Arabia, 00:04:15.870 --> 00:04:19.860 align:middle line:84% and there they make shopping lists and chopping lists. 00:04:19.860 --> 00:04:23.070 align:middle line:84% So thank you for that connection. 00:04:23.070 --> 00:04:27.360 align:middle line:84% And I had a question for Zachary. 00:04:27.360 --> 00:04:28.680 align:middle line:90% I'm listening to you read. 00:04:28.680 --> 00:04:33.270 align:middle line:84% It sounds like probably when you started writing poetry you 00:04:33.270 --> 00:04:33.810 align:middle line:90% probably-- 00:04:33.810 --> 00:04:36.870 align:middle line:90% I don't know. 00:04:36.870 --> 00:04:40.110 align:middle line:84% I could be transferring here, but you probably really hated 00:04:40.110 --> 00:04:42.420 align:middle line:84% your early stuff, and had a lot of trouble with it-- 00:04:42.420 --> 00:04:42.920 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:04:42.920 --> 00:04:45.390 align:middle line:84% --and had to work really hard to get past that. 00:04:45.390 --> 00:04:46.678 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:04:46.678 --> 00:04:49.150 align:middle line:90% Is that the question? 00:04:49.150 --> 00:04:51.190 align:middle line:84% I mean, your stuff's wonderful right now. 00:04:51.190 --> 00:04:54.328 align:middle line:84% But I'm just saying it probably was really hard work-- 00:04:54.328 --> 00:04:54.870 align:middle line:90% You hated it? 00:04:54.870 --> 00:04:57.480 align:middle line:90% --before you got to that point. 00:04:57.480 --> 00:05:00.840 align:middle line:84% Actually, the very first poem I wrote I was 20 years old. 00:05:00.840 --> 00:05:01.995 align:middle line:90% And it was about a pig. 00:05:01.995 --> 00:05:04.380 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:05:04.380 --> 00:05:06.660 align:middle line:84% It was for a poetry class, and I never-- 00:05:06.660 --> 00:05:09.900 align:middle line:84% I couldn't have named more than one poet at that time. 00:05:09.900 --> 00:05:12.120 align:middle line:84% I don't know what, who that poet would be now. 00:05:12.120 --> 00:05:16.260 align:middle line:84% But that poem I sent to the New Yorker. 00:05:16.260 --> 00:05:19.550 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:05:19.550 --> 00:05:20.477 align:middle line:90% 00:05:20.477 --> 00:05:21.810 align:middle line:90% I thought it was the best thing. 00:05:21.810 --> 00:05:23.602 align:middle line:84% I just thought, surely, they would want it. 00:05:23.602 --> 00:05:25.350 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:05:25.350 --> 00:05:28.010 align:middle line:84% And I sent them one poem, but my teacher 00:05:28.010 --> 00:05:29.010 align:middle line:90% said it was really good. 00:05:29.010 --> 00:05:30.220 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:05:30.220 --> 00:05:33.330 align:middle line:84% I haven't sent to the New Yorker since then, 00:05:33.330 --> 00:05:35.880 align:middle line:84% and I haven't heard back from them about that poem. 00:05:35.880 --> 00:05:37.110 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:05:37.110 --> 00:05:42.180 align:middle line:84% So that's entirely false actually. 00:05:42.180 --> 00:05:44.130 align:middle line:90% But shortly after that. 00:05:44.130 --> 00:05:50.160 align:middle line:84% Yeah, I started to, I feel like, maybe get 00:05:50.160 --> 00:05:53.610 align:middle line:84% confident enough at poetry to know that what I was doing 00:05:53.610 --> 00:05:55.830 align:middle line:90% wasn't very good. 00:05:55.830 --> 00:05:58.390 align:middle line:84% So then, I mean, but that was maybe a few years after that. 00:05:58.390 --> 00:06:02.790 align:middle line:84% And then I taught myself how to like the poems, but yeah. 00:06:02.790 --> 00:06:06.460 align:middle line:90% 00:06:06.460 --> 00:06:08.692 align:middle line:90% There's a hand way in the back. 00:06:08.692 --> 00:06:10.460 align:middle line:90% Go ahead 00:06:10.460 --> 00:06:13.680 align:middle line:84% Did James Tate think it was his poem? 00:06:13.680 --> 00:06:16.940 align:middle line:84% OK, the question was, did James Tate think it was his poem? 00:06:16.940 --> 00:06:17.440 align:middle line:90% Sure. 00:06:17.440 --> 00:06:18.400 align:middle line:90% Yeah. 00:06:18.400 --> 00:06:18.990 align:middle line:90% I tricked him. 00:06:18.990 --> 00:06:20.020 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:06:20.020 --> 00:06:20.520 align:middle line:90% No. 00:06:20.520 --> 00:06:21.730 align:middle line:90% He's an old man. 00:06:21.730 --> 00:06:24.190 align:middle line:90% Yeah, he's-- I didn't get to-- 00:06:24.190 --> 00:06:26.630 align:middle line:84% I don't know if anybody's had personal conversations 00:06:26.630 --> 00:06:27.130 align:middle line:90% with him. 00:06:27.130 --> 00:06:31.000 align:middle line:84% But I didn't get to talk to him very much, like two sentences 00:06:31.000 --> 00:06:33.010 align:middle line:90% or so afterwards-- 00:06:33.010 --> 00:06:36.250 align:middle line:84% which is the two of my favorite sentences. 00:06:36.250 --> 00:06:36.880 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:06:36.880 --> 00:06:40.000 align:middle line:84% So that's fine, but we didn't even talk about the poem. 00:06:40.000 --> 00:06:42.100 align:middle line:84% I think he just said it's nice to see you. 00:06:42.100 --> 00:06:44.800 align:middle line:84% And glad to be here, or something. 00:06:44.800 --> 00:06:45.770 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:06:45.770 --> 00:06:49.000 align:middle line:84% But I like to think that, sure, that he did. 00:06:49.000 --> 00:06:51.730 align:middle line:84% It's a long story, but I almost-- 00:06:51.730 --> 00:06:52.450 align:middle line:90% never mind. 00:06:52.450 --> 00:06:53.830 align:middle line:90% We'll just have a beer later. 00:06:53.830 --> 00:06:55.420 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:06:55.420 --> 00:06:58.390 align:middle line:84% It involves the broken down van and some magic. 00:06:58.390 --> 00:07:00.202 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:07:00.202 --> 00:07:04.080 align:middle line:90% 00:07:04.080 --> 00:07:06.990 align:middle line:90% Hi, thank you for reading. 00:07:06.990 --> 00:07:10.110 align:middle line:84% Since I missed the vice presidential debate tonight, 00:07:10.110 --> 00:07:11.910 align:middle line:84% I was hoping you and your opponent 00:07:11.910 --> 00:07:13.965 align:middle line:84% could say a few comments about the economy. 00:07:13.965 --> 00:07:15.980 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:07:15.980 --> 00:07:17.110 align:middle line:90% Woo! 00:07:17.110 --> 00:07:18.940 align:middle line:84% I think Zach already answered that question 00:07:18.940 --> 00:07:21.055 align:middle line:84% with his van, broken down van and a lot of magic. 00:07:21.055 --> 00:07:21.957 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:07:21.957 --> 00:07:24.040 align:middle line:84% I'm from South Bend, Indiana, and that's about all 00:07:24.040 --> 00:07:25.160 align:middle line:90% we have to work with there. 00:07:25.160 --> 00:07:27.077 align:middle line:84% So that's how we're going to fix this economy. 00:07:27.077 --> 00:07:28.840 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:07:28.840 --> 00:07:32.410 align:middle line:84% Yeah, it doesn't-- Yeah, I have no money at all, 00:07:32.410 --> 00:07:34.660 align:middle line:84% and have no possibility of probably really making it. 00:07:34.660 --> 00:07:36.535 align:middle line:84% So I'm out of the realm of that conversation. 00:07:36.535 --> 00:07:38.230 align:middle line:90% I don't-- it doesn't affect me. 00:07:38.230 --> 00:07:39.570 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:07:39.570 --> 00:07:42.800 align:middle line:84% I'll make my couple of bucks for the rest of my life, 00:07:42.800 --> 00:07:43.910 align:middle line:90% and I'll be fine. 00:07:43.910 --> 00:07:44.410 align:middle line:90% Oh. 00:07:44.410 --> 00:07:47.290 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:07:47.290 --> 00:07:49.690 align:middle line:90% 00:07:49.690 --> 00:07:51.320 align:middle line:90% One last question? 00:07:51.320 --> 00:07:54.290 align:middle line:90% Or, not? 00:07:54.290 --> 00:07:57.354 align:middle line:84% I can just tell [INAUDIBLE] or not. 00:07:57.354 --> 00:07:58.660 align:middle line:90% Go ahead. 00:07:58.660 --> 00:08:00.100 align:middle line:90% Or, not. 00:08:00.100 --> 00:08:01.960 align:middle line:90% Thank you for your performances. 00:08:01.960 --> 00:08:02.980 align:middle line:90% I enjoyed both of them. 00:08:02.980 --> 00:08:03.938 align:middle line:90% They're very different. 00:08:03.938 --> 00:08:06.820 align:middle line:84% I'm curious what, Joyelle you were reading when 00:08:06.820 --> 00:08:08.200 align:middle line:90% you wrote percussion grenade. 00:08:08.200 --> 00:08:09.250 align:middle line:90% And also, the last one. 00:08:09.250 --> 00:08:11.050 align:middle line:84% And also, I'm curious, what you were 00:08:11.050 --> 00:08:14.280 align:middle line:84% reading when you wrote Fjords if you can even remember. 00:08:14.280 --> 00:08:16.690 align:middle line:90% Yeah. 00:08:16.690 --> 00:08:17.470 align:middle line:90% Excuse me, buddy. 00:08:17.470 --> 00:08:20.140 align:middle line:90% I've now snared this man. 00:08:20.140 --> 00:08:21.880 align:middle line:90% Let me think about it a minute. 00:08:21.880 --> 00:08:23.770 align:middle line:84% Well, I read-- to write Glock Chorus first 00:08:23.770 --> 00:08:25.607 align:middle line:84% I read a book, which I mentioned. 00:08:25.607 --> 00:08:26.940 align:middle line:90% It's called-- what is it called? 00:08:26.940 --> 00:08:29.230 align:middle line:90% The Emerald City. 00:08:29.230 --> 00:08:31.150 align:middle line:84% It's a non-fiction book about how life 00:08:31.150 --> 00:08:33.047 align:middle line:90% was lived in the green zone. 00:08:33.047 --> 00:08:33.880 align:middle line:90% And you can find it. 00:08:33.880 --> 00:08:35.380 align:middle line:84% It's not precisely called The Emerald City, 00:08:35.380 --> 00:08:37.255 align:middle line:84% but I'm sure if you Google green zone Emerald 00:08:37.255 --> 00:08:38.230 align:middle line:90% City you'll find it. 00:08:38.230 --> 00:08:41.957 align:middle line:84% And it was made into a really shitty Matt Damon movie, where 00:08:41.957 --> 00:08:44.290 align:middle line:84% it was totally made about Matt Damon, which it turns out 00:08:44.290 --> 00:08:45.910 align:middle line:84% is not what the Iraq war is actually. 00:08:45.910 --> 00:08:49.480 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:08:49.480 --> 00:08:52.180 align:middle line:84% Matt Damon totally took the broken down van and magic 00:08:52.180 --> 00:08:53.740 align:middle line:90% approach to fixing that problem. 00:08:53.740 --> 00:08:54.980 align:middle line:90% And it worked for him. 00:08:54.980 --> 00:08:55.900 align:middle line:90% Thank you, Hollywood. 00:08:55.900 --> 00:08:59.560 align:middle line:84% So that was where some of the anecdotes, like the cat 00:08:59.560 --> 00:09:02.080 align:middle line:84% extermination, and some of the other anecdotes from that 00:09:02.080 --> 00:09:04.720 align:middle line:90% come into this are. 00:09:04.720 --> 00:09:06.750 align:middle line:84% But basically, I also read, for-- 00:09:06.750 --> 00:09:09.640 align:middle line:90% 00:09:09.640 --> 00:09:12.490 align:middle line:84% I read some books about mad cow disease, and scrapie, 00:09:12.490 --> 00:09:14.965 align:middle line:84% and how these vectors work, and how they were 00:09:14.965 --> 00:09:16.090 align:middle line:90% discovered and nailed down. 00:09:16.090 --> 00:09:17.740 align:middle line:90% And I read a lot of news. 00:09:17.740 --> 00:09:18.520 align:middle line:90% I read Al Jazeera. 00:09:18.520 --> 00:09:21.640 align:middle line:90% 00:09:21.640 --> 00:09:24.050 align:middle line:84% There's so much bad things happening in the world. 00:09:24.050 --> 00:09:26.470 align:middle line:84% And I feel like it's my job to know about them all. 00:09:26.470 --> 00:09:28.560 align:middle line:84% So I think I spent a lot of time online 00:09:28.560 --> 00:09:31.060 align:middle line:84% reading the news from different news sources, and especially 00:09:31.060 --> 00:09:32.710 align:middle line:90% Al Jazeera. 00:09:32.710 --> 00:09:34.808 align:middle line:84% I'm just seeing the kind of suffering-- 00:09:34.808 --> 00:09:36.850 align:middle line:84% I mean, this is a downer after an upbeat reading. 00:09:36.850 --> 00:09:38.740 align:middle line:84% But my readings are very upbeat, but they 00:09:38.740 --> 00:09:42.018 align:middle line:84% come from a kind of like appalled hysteria 00:09:42.018 --> 00:09:43.060 align:middle line:90% in the face of the stuff. 00:09:43.060 --> 00:09:44.435 align:middle line:84% I have a very medieval worldview. 00:09:44.435 --> 00:09:46.120 align:middle line:84% That the world is bad and getting worse. 00:09:46.120 --> 00:09:48.790 align:middle line:84% But it's good if you're a disease, because it's 00:09:48.790 --> 00:09:49.840 align:middle line:90% getting better for that. 00:09:49.840 --> 00:09:50.080 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:09:50.080 --> 00:09:51.413 align:middle line:90% Like, if you look at it from a-- 00:09:51.413 --> 00:09:54.280 align:middle line:84% And so sometimes I do look at it from a microbe's point of view, 00:09:54.280 --> 00:09:56.170 align:middle line:84% or from like the Prion's point of view. 00:09:56.170 --> 00:09:58.230 align:middle line:84% Like, the King Prion's going to come and take care of it all, 00:09:58.230 --> 00:09:59.290 align:middle line:90% and make it all go away. 00:09:59.290 --> 00:10:01.820 align:middle line:84% You know, that's going to happen, not Matt Damon. 00:10:01.820 --> 00:10:02.320 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:10:02.320 --> 00:10:03.730 align:middle line:90% So yeah. 00:10:03.730 --> 00:10:06.430 align:middle line:84% So I read stuff about gross diseases. 00:10:06.430 --> 00:10:08.200 align:middle line:84% My buddy here, just Brent just gave me 00:10:08.200 --> 00:10:11.950 align:middle line:84% a book on how forensics scientists study 00:10:11.950 --> 00:10:13.370 align:middle line:90% co-mingled human remains. 00:10:13.370 --> 00:10:15.370 align:middle line:84% I'm going to sink my teeth into that later. 00:10:15.370 --> 00:10:16.370 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:10:16.370 --> 00:10:16.870 align:middle line:90% I mean-- 00:10:16.870 --> 00:10:17.662 align:middle line:90% The book, you mean. 00:10:17.662 --> 00:10:18.340 align:middle line:90% The book, yeah. 00:10:18.340 --> 00:10:20.740 align:middle line:84% [INAUDIBLE] I read a lot of Shakespeare 00:10:20.740 --> 00:10:23.120 align:middle line:84% and old-fashioned stuff, because I like weird 00:10:23.120 --> 00:10:25.510 align:middle line:84% dictions and especially in weird modes of address. 00:10:25.510 --> 00:10:29.440 align:middle line:84% Oh, and I read Just Kids by Patti Smith. 00:10:29.440 --> 00:10:32.260 align:middle line:84% So I read really widely, but I definitely 00:10:32.260 --> 00:10:35.770 align:middle line:84% read a lot of current events, and a lot of like pop science 00:10:35.770 --> 00:10:38.440 align:middle line:84% so that I can try to get my head around science-- 00:10:38.440 --> 00:10:40.810 align:middle line:84% because not just the vocabulary of the metaphors, 00:10:40.810 --> 00:10:43.828 align:middle line:84% and the hope that other species might take over soon 00:10:43.828 --> 00:10:44.620 align:middle line:90% makes me feel good. 00:10:44.620 --> 00:10:45.370 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:10:45.370 --> 00:10:48.280 align:middle line:84% That seems like a good solution to the human-ous problem, 00:10:48.280 --> 00:10:51.130 align:middle line:90% the Anthropocene. 00:10:51.130 --> 00:10:54.130 align:middle line:84% I just, a very quick answer the exact formula for this book 00:10:54.130 --> 00:10:56.632 align:middle line:84% was I was, as I mentioned before reading, 00:10:56.632 --> 00:10:58.090 align:middle line:84% I was trying to write my own memoir 00:10:58.090 --> 00:11:00.310 align:middle line:90% of the hawk, the Tate book. 00:11:00.310 --> 00:11:04.180 align:middle line:84% And then later the post-Spork poems were more influenced-- 00:11:04.180 --> 00:11:05.620 align:middle line:84% or, some combination between that 00:11:05.620 --> 00:11:07.718 align:middle line:90% and Anne Carson's Short Talks. 00:11:07.718 --> 00:11:09.760 align:middle line:84% That's one of my very favorite books of all time. 00:11:09.760 --> 00:11:12.520 align:middle line:84% So I wanted to try to do something like that, 00:11:12.520 --> 00:11:14.740 align:middle line:84% and maybe fell a little short with that, 00:11:14.740 --> 00:11:16.040 align:middle line:90% but I love that book. 00:11:16.040 --> 00:11:19.270 align:middle line:84% And I was also listening to three specific bands, 00:11:19.270 --> 00:11:20.303 align:middle line:90% which were-- 00:11:20.303 --> 00:11:21.970 align:middle line:84% over and over again while writing, which 00:11:21.970 --> 00:11:25.660 align:middle line:84% were Wolves in the Throne Room, and Tecumseh, and Godspeed You! 00:11:25.660 --> 00:11:26.865 align:middle line:90% Black Emperor. 00:11:26.865 --> 00:11:27.990 align:middle line:90% Can I make another comment? 00:11:27.990 --> 00:11:28.510 align:middle line:90% Yeah. 00:11:28.510 --> 00:11:30.220 align:middle line:84% Another kind of ironical thing is 00:11:30.220 --> 00:11:33.268 align:middle line:84% that I also have been losing my hearing in the last five years. 00:11:33.268 --> 00:11:35.560 align:middle line:84% So while I was writing a lot of this percussion grenade 00:11:35.560 --> 00:11:37.268 align:middle line:84% I was losing my hearing at the same time. 00:11:37.268 --> 00:11:39.760 align:middle line:84% I were hearing aids now, and they don't work that great. 00:11:39.760 --> 00:11:42.850 align:middle line:84% This is another reason I'm so psyched to see these ladies, 00:11:42.850 --> 00:11:44.600 align:middle line:84% not only because it's all about me-- 00:11:44.600 --> 00:11:45.100 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:11:45.100 --> 00:11:48.220 align:middle line:84% But because look at the amazing poetry performance 00:11:48.220 --> 00:11:49.738 align:middle line:90% these ladies put on. 00:11:49.738 --> 00:11:51.280 align:middle line:84% We sent them our poems, and then they 00:11:51.280 --> 00:11:52.210 align:middle line:90% figure out how to perform them. 00:11:52.210 --> 00:11:53.740 align:middle line:84% And they perform them with no text. 00:11:53.740 --> 00:11:56.930 align:middle line:84% And they totally rock it, and are amazing. 00:11:56.930 --> 00:11:58.466 align:middle line:84% So first of all, a hand for them. 00:11:58.466 --> 00:12:04.210 align:middle line:90% [APPLAUSE] 00:12:04.210 --> 00:12:06.615 align:middle line:84% So that losing my hearing is two things, but maybe-- 00:12:06.615 --> 00:12:07.490 align:middle line:90% Is this is still on-- 00:12:07.490 --> 00:12:09.240 align:middle line:90% Yeah. 00:12:09.240 --> 00:12:11.510 align:middle line:84% It made me think more about what sound is, 00:12:11.510 --> 00:12:13.320 align:middle line:84% and how it cuts through and possesses you, 00:12:13.320 --> 00:12:15.320 align:middle line:84% even when you don't have what other people think 00:12:15.320 --> 00:12:15.980 align:middle line:90% of as hearing. 00:12:15.980 --> 00:12:19.885 align:middle line:84% And secondly, since I wear these hearing aids now, 00:12:19.885 --> 00:12:22.010 align:middle line:84% it's like having two little microphones in my ears. 00:12:22.010 --> 00:12:24.110 align:middle line:84% And I have no natural noise in my life anymore. 00:12:24.110 --> 00:12:27.110 align:middle line:84% Every noise I hear is basically digitized. 00:12:27.110 --> 00:12:29.660 align:middle line:84% And so it's like, I blast it off, man. 00:12:29.660 --> 00:12:30.170 align:middle line:90% I'm going-- 00:12:30.170 --> 00:12:30.670 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:12:30.670 --> 00:12:33.740 align:middle line:84% [INAUDIBLE] like out there like the world 00:12:33.740 --> 00:12:34.940 align:middle line:90% is completely digital to me. 00:12:34.940 --> 00:12:36.230 align:middle line:90% And I'm loving it. 00:12:36.230 --> 00:12:38.060 align:middle line:84% It just makes me feel crazy and magic. 00:12:38.060 --> 00:12:39.620 align:middle line:90% So I'm into it. 00:12:39.620 --> 00:12:42.122 align:middle line:90% OK, that's it. 00:12:42.122 --> 00:12:45.400 align:middle line:90% [APPLAUSE] 00:12:45.400 --> 00:12:48.247 align:middle line:84% Please buy the Spork books, the Poetry Center books. 00:12:48.247 --> 00:12:49.241 align:middle line:90% Thank you. 00:12:49.241 --> 00:12:52.223 align:middle line:90% 00:12:52.223 --> 00:12:55.628 align:middle line:90% Thank you, Joyelle, [INAUDIBLE]. 00:12:55.628 --> 00:12:56.128 align:middle line:90%