July 13th, 2011 / 3:42 pm
 Random

What is Experimental Literature? {Recap: Five Questions Vol. 2}

In case you missed any of them, below you’ll find links to each of the writers who participated in the second edition of my series of interviews aimed at expanding our understanding of experimental literature.  (Also if you missed it, here is a link to the list of writers who participated in the first edition.)

Again, my thanks to everybody for participating.  This has been a really insightful experience for me and hopefully for many of you.  In the near future, I plan to do a post that addresses some of what I’ve learned from the series and how it has helped me to rethink my ideas about this nebulous category of “experimental literature.”  At the moment, I’m unsure about a third edition.  Only time will tell.  But for now, I encourage you to visit or revisit the ocean of ideas presented by this impressive group of writers:

Brian Evenson

Dodie Bellamy

Eileen Myles

Evan Lavender-Smith

Johannes Göransson

Sesshu Foster

Dennis Cooper

Vi Khi Nao

Michael Martone

11 Comments

  1. July 13th, 2011 / 9:48 pm deadgod—

      Selah Saterstrom?

  2. July 13th, 2011 / 10:29 pm Christopher Higgs—

      Unfortunately, Selah was unable to participate.  She wanted to, and intended to, but unforeseen circumstances prevented it.  Should I produce a third volume, hopefully we’ll see her thoughts therein.  

  3. July 13th, 2011 / 10:51 pm MFBomb—
  4. July 15th, 2011 / 12:29 am Shannon—

      Are there going to be more of these? I’ve really enjoyed reading them.

  5. July 15th, 2011 / 7:42 am deadgod—

      I am interested in the articulations that erupt as a result of these images being in relation.  This is a process I would call “narrative.”  […]  I feel narrative as inevitable[.]  Where there are things and conditions, there is narrative.

      I think the mind – or at least the linguistic mind – tends irresistibly to narrate.  It’s interesting that an “experimental” writer would see experiment within the scope of “narrative”, regardless of how diverse or elastic or defiable narration might be – or how capable narration is of disclosing what’s ‘beyond’ “narrative”.

  6. July 15th, 2011 / 7:47 am deadgod—

      [when cut flowers begin visibly to wilt,] this is precisely when they are perfect because they are in accordance with their nature

      How does anything reveal that its mode at that moment is not “in accordance with [its] nature”?  What is violence? – and when is it ‘wrong’?

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