"I think a lot of stuff that gets called experimental, particularly within the American tradition, is..."

"I think a lot of stuff that gets called experimental, particularly within the American tradition, is in fact very staid, very predictable. Often that's the stuff that gets praised, at least in the short term. At the same time there's great work out there if you're willing to look for it…I'm also, as you might have gathered by the way I rarely say it, hostile to the term "experimental literature," which for me brings too much scientific baggage with it and also brings expectations from another realm. It brings with it images of mad scientists and beakers, and also the binary idea that experiments either succeed or fail, and thus forefronts the notion of success. I prefer "innovative literature" since it's a somewhat more neutral and non-discipline specific term and more likely to keep us focused on process."

- Brian Evenson on "Experimental Literature" at HTMLGIANT.com