ChicagoPostmodernPoetry.Com
Poetic Profile
Corey Mead
Editors Note: The Following Poetic Profile (c) was submitted by Laura Sims
General Questions
1) Where did you grow up? Was poetry and writing part of that mix?
I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, where poetry and writing were decidedly NOT a part of the mix for me, though not through any intentional exclusion—it just never occurred to me to read or write poetry (or to write anything besides music, for that matter) until my mid-20s.
2) Who are your poetic influences, favorite poets, writers, artwork, and other things that inform your work?
My primary poetic influences are my wife, Laura Sims, and my friends who are writers: Jesse Seldess, David Pavelich, Stacy Szymaszek, Anthony Hawley, Roberto Harrison, Rob Voedisch, Hermine Meinhard, and Christian Dean. (Thanks to Laura for letting me steal her answer!) Other favorite contemporary writers include Michael Palmer, Alma Guillermoprieto, Joan Didion, David Markson, Mario Vargas Llosa, Rae Armantrout, Victor Pelevin, Deborah Brandt, Richard Ford, Janet Malcolm, and Jon Lee Anderson. Much of my inspiration to write also comes from music and films.
3) When did you 'become' a poet; when did being a poet become part of your everyday life?
I started writing poetry at 26 or 27, when I took a summer poetry workshop simply because I’d been denied entry into the fiction workshop. At that point, writing poetry immediately became a vital part of my daily life, largely because of the influence of the many talented student writers in the class—including the all-seeing, all-knowing, and all-powerful Jesse Seldess.
4) Where were you educated? Was this important?
I went to community college in the Bay Area on and off until I was 25, and then finished up the last two years of my BA at the University of Iowa. I seriously doubt I would’ve ever thought of trying to write poetry if I hadn’t gone to school in Iowa City, with its overabundance of poets.
5) You’ve lived in New York and are from the San Francisco area. How does the Midwest writing community compare with New York’s? San Francisco’s (Bay Area’s)?
To be honest, I haven’t been a part of either the Bay Area or the New York poetry communities, so I can’t judge them. The Chicago/Madison/Milwaukee writing communities, however, are fantastic, at least as far as my experience has been. I can’t imagine a more supportive, welcoming, aesthetically open-minded group of writers than those I’ve met here. (Though I should mention that when I say Madison, I don’t mean the UW-Madison creative writing program, with which I’ve had no experience.)
6) What is your favorite food?
Thai.
7) Sports Team?
None.
8) Vacation Spot?
How about…anywhere but Russia?
9) Curse Word?
“Luminous.”
10) What is “Rhetoric & Composition”? And how does it influence (or not influence) your work as a creative writer?
To be honest, the inability to define or agree on what’s meant by “rhetoric and composition” seems to be endemic to the field—though it’s also what makes the field potentially so open and receptive to new ideas and influences, which to me is the most exciting thing about it.
11) What is it like being married to another poet? Is it…claustrophobic? Mutually supportive? Inspiring? Competitive? Please explain your answer.
Being married to another poet has been nothing but inspiring. Laura’s not only an amazing writer, but she’s also ridiculously supportive of my writing, along with everything else.
12) What are you reading right now? What books (poetry, fiction, and/or non-fiction) have you read in the past year that you thoroughly enjoyed? Any books that thoroughly disappointed you?
Well, since I’m currently a grad student, most of the books I’ve read in the past year have been in the fields of composition/rhetoric and literacy studies; of these, my three favorites have been Deborah Brandt’s “Literacy in American Lives,” Ralph Cintron’s “Angels’ Town,” and Geoffrey Sirc’s “English Composition as a Happening.”
Novels I’ve read and loved in the past year include “Soldiers of Salamis” by Javier Cercas, “Omon Ra” by Victor Pelevin, “The Cry of the Owl” by Patricia Cornwell, “Leviathan” by Paul Auster, and “The Feast of the Goat” by Mario Vargas Llosa. My favorite books of poetry have been Graham Foust’s “As in Every Deafness,” Hermine Meinhard’s “Bright Turquoise Umbrella,” Stacy Szymaszek’s “Some Mariners,” Ray McDaniels’ “Murder (a violet),” and Christine Hume’s “Alaskaphrenia.”
As far as books that have disappointed me…I’ve found that the vast majority of books published in the field of composition/rhetoric are dry and conservative, which has been a bit of a surprise and disappointment.
Craft Questions
1) How do you form a poem?
From words, ha ha.
2) Do you use collage, found language?
Yes, I rely heavily on both collage and found language in my writing, which is a fancy way of saying that I steal mercilessly from any source I can find.
3) Is poetry an organic or synthetic process for you?
It’s hard to say—but whatever flashes of inspiration I have tend to occur during revision, when I search for links and felt connections between words, sentences, ideas, images, etc.
4) Where do you write? Is ambience important? Do you have rituals or habits when you write?
Location and ambience aren’t particularly important to me when I write; nor do I have any particular rituals.
5) In the balance between found language and created language, where does your work fall? Do you use many sources?
See the answers to questions 2 and 3 above.
