Next Big Thing

The Next Big Thing

The Next Big Thing is a blog-tagging project where writers interview themselves using a set of stock questions and then they tag five other writers to follow suit by interviewing themselves and tagging five more people…and on and on, as Erykah Badu would sing it. My thanks to Ching-In Chen, author of THE HEART’S TRAFFIC (Arktoi Books/Red Hen Press, 2009) for tagging me.  I love Ching-In’s courage to experiment in her work while simultaneously cutting to the marrow of truth in her subject matter. Her work is wonderfully imaginative, and I have to say she is just cool people.  When Ching-In smiles you know she means it. Okay, so on with the self-interview…

What is the working title of your book?


Stereo.Island.Mosaic.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?


A collection of poems that synthesizes Caribbean Mythology and History with Cyberpunk, Musicology, Visual Art structures, and Hip-Hop poetics using the islands of Puerto Rico, New York, and the mind as the setting or canvas.  

What genre does your book fall under?

Poetry that hopes to one day grow up to be a song or a painting.

Where did the idea come from for the book?


The larger concept of the book slowly congealed for years as I was building a body of work. I’ve long been obsessed with music, mythology, world politics and history, visual art, technology, and my two islands- Puerto Rico (my island of ancestral origin), and New York (my island of birth). It’s been over a decade long process to develop how I could weave them all to create a (somewhat) unified vision.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?


More than a decade. The first drafts of some of the poems included in the collection were written as far back as 2002. But the actual work of shaping them into a manuscript really began in early 2011 when I entered the Creative Writing MFA program at Rutgers Newark.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

I side with Jose Saramago about the sentiment of “inspiration.” It’s not inspiration that births something so much as it is sweat and blood and dirt under the fingernails and struggle. When artists are always asked about their inspiration it feels to me like the assertion is that some magical and mysterious things pops out thin air as if a genie blinked and caused it to appear. But I think it’s more like Lorca’s Duende, a constant battle with the demons that culminates in moments of brilliant harmony. But if by inspiration we’re just talking about the sparks that fire up the engine, well unfortunately, for me, it seems too often start with anger. I tend to get fired up about the things in the world I see that are unfair or cruel that causes me to want to either expose that cruelty or to create something beautiful or fun to counterbalance it. Which is all a long way to say that I was “inspired” by the beauty and mystery of my islands and the people that inhabit them, and my anger at seeing the inequalities, the violence, the hypocrisies, the exploitation on them caused me to put pen to paper. I used the anger to find truth and love.

Who will publish your book?


The book isn’t quite finished yet, so right now there isn’t a publishing house attached to it. If I find the politics or experimentation scares away the publishers, then I'll just have to do it my damn self! To quote Bernie Mac, "I ain't scared of you!"

What other works would you compare this book to within your genre?


Sleeping with the Dictionary-Harryette Mullen

The Black Automaton- Douglas Kearney

Poems and Antipoems- Nicanor Parra

Middle Passages- Kamau Brathwaite  

What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?


It’s a poetry book, so I don’t know a movie with a linear plot could be made. But it could work as a choreo-poem in the style of Ntozake Shange’s “For Colored Girls…,” in which case I would cast actors I know who have been in my plays or in shows I’ve produced or directed. My cast: R. Ernie Silva, Bobby DeJesus, Felix Solis, SkudR Jones, Dino Foxx, Raul Castillo, and Rodney Garza with music performed by Mwalim, Charles Fambro, and Gerrard Briones. If we really need a box office draw, I’m okay with Javier Bardem playing every role.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

Though it’s political and historical, it’s also experimental in a fun sort of way. The book also pulls from science and pop culture, and plays with common forms such as internet film reviews and business meeting documents. The themes and content are serious, but it’s very playful, even humorous at times. It's an attempt to distill the beauty and the conflict of the islands that have created me, a collage of historical references, mythological creations and recreations, and verses that seek to "flip the script" on imperialism and technocracy.

The next writers I tag in this project are:

Dr. Grisel Acosta : Back in 2000 I saw this brilliant poet perform at Café Largo in Harlem. I was so dazzled by the lyricism, originality, and musicality in her writing and in her performance that I eventually asked her to marry me. Word on the street is that she just finished her poetry/memoir collection CHICA! GO! It’s a gorgeous, courageous, and truly unique book that transcends category, a tale of this Punk Rock Afro-Latina College Professor's journey from the clubs of Chicago to the freak art scene of NY to the academic halls of San Antonio, Texas and back again. It’s a book that you can dance (or mosh) to. Oh, and she’s from Chi-Town, of course!

Anna Alves : Hailing from the Bay area, Anna is a fellow attendee at the Rutgers-Newark Creative Writing MFA program. She’s written this very cool short story called MIXIPINO, a vivid portrait of a Filipino DJ that is political, psychological, and a little psychedelic. She rocked Rutgers with this piece when she read it last year at the Harlem Book Fair.

J.Michael Martinez Michael is the author of HEREDITIES, an innovative collection of poems that boldly challenges the parameters of poetic form, serving as both an exploration of personal identity and a historiography Chicano culture and history. I can’t wait to see what he’s got brewing next. He teaches and is pursuing his PHD at University of Colorado in Boulder.

EllenHagan : This Kentucky born poet and educator's book, CROWNED, grapples with female identity and personal history with honesty and wit. It’s rich with poems on motherhood, coming of age, boozing, family history, education, and road tripping American style. The collection includes what I think will be considered one of the definitive facebook poems.

ArianaBrown : This young spoken word poet from San Antonio, Texas is an exciting stage performer with two self-published chapbooks ready for the reading: QUIET STORM and LEARNING TO SPEAK. Ariana writes about women’s issues and race issues with the maturity of a poet ten years her senior.