12 or 20 (second series) questions with Dobby Gibson

DobbyGibson [photocredit: Zoe Prinds-Flash] is the author of Polar; Skirmish; ItBecomes You, a finalist for the Believer Poetry Award; and Little Glass Planet. His poetry has appeared in the American Poetry Review, TheParis Review, and Ploughshares. He lives in Saint Paul,Minnesota.

1 -How did your first book change your life? How does your most recent workcompare to your previous? How does it feel different?

Myfirst book didn’t change my life, much to my surprise at the time. I eventuallyrealized the disenchantment was a kind of gift. As poets, it is our job to beforever in search of a transformation we never quite attain.

2 -How did you come to poetry first, as opposed to, say, fiction or non-fiction?

I didcome to fiction first! I even have an MFA in fiction and an underwhelminggraduate-thesis novel to prove it. I began writing poetry on the sly in mysecond year of the Indiana University fiction program. Poetry wasn’t what I wassupposed to be doing, in the eyes of the institution. I’m happy to report that itslost none of its transgressive thrill.

3 -How long does it take to start any particular writing project? Does yourwriting initially come quickly, or is it a slow process? Do first drafts appearlooking close to their final shape, or does your work come out of copiousnotes?

I’mwriting all the time and tend not to think in projects. I wake up most days andwrite a poem, and then, over a few years, the poems point toward the book.

4 -Where does a poem usually begin for you? Are you an author of short pieces thatend up combining into a larger project, or are you working on a"book" from the very beginning?

Everypoem begins in an encounter with language.

5 -Are public readings part of or counter to your creative process? Are you thesort of writer who enjoys doing readings?

I wantmy poems to connect with actual people—people who aren’t necessarily poets oracademics. If I’m interested in a poem I’m working on, I’ll eventually read itout loud when no one else is home. I suppose I’m imagining an invisibleaudience being there with me, but this imaginary reading is just as mysteriousto me as a real reading. Who is listening? As a poet, you can never be sure,unless you’re reading at a Monsters of Poetry event in Madison, Wisconsin,which is the greatest reading series in America. It’s not even close.

6 -Do you have any theoretical concerns behind your writing? What kinds ofquestions are you trying to answer with your work? What do you even think thecurrent questions are?

I’mtrying to capture the texture of lived experience. Its astonishments. Itsbefuddlements. Its outrages. All its bizarre simultaneities.

7 –What do you see the current role of the writer being in larger culture? Do theyeven have one? What do you think the role of the writer should be?

In “The Nobel Rider and the Sounds of Words,” Wallace Stevens says the role of the poetis “to help people to live their lives” through the power of the imagination. Thismay require working within the culture, or it may require working outside of theculture. In my experience, it often requires not thinking about the culture atall.

8 -Do you find the process of working with an outside editor difficult oressential (or both)?

Overthe course of five books, I’ve worked with three different editors: April Ossmann, Jeff Shotts, and Carmen Giménez. Each of those relationships has beenessential. If April, Jeff, or Carmen have something to say to me about my work,I’ll stop whatever I’m doing and listen. I may not act on what they say, but Iwill listen.

9 -What is the best piece of advice you've heard (not necessarily given to youdirectly)?

Neverwear light brown shoes with a dark suit.

10- What kind of writing routine do you tend to keep, or do you even have one?How does a typical day (for you) begin?

On agood day, I have 30 minutes with my notebook in the morning before anyone elsein the house is awake. But I’m un-fussy about routines and protocols. Ivoice-text poems and parts of poems to myself while driving my car all thetime.

11- When your writing gets stalled, where do you turn or return for (for lack ofa better word) inspiration?

ReadingTomaž Šalamun cures anything. It’s like splashing cold water on my face.

12- What fragrance reminds you of home?

Kimchi.A red sauce after it’s been simmering on the stove for 30 minutes. The air justbefore it snows.

13- David W. McFadden once said that books come from books, but are there anyother forms that influence your work, whether nature, music, science or visualart?

Anythingcan spark a poem. In this most recent book, one was inspired by the sight of a tinyhotel soap.

14- What other writers or writings are important for your work, or simply yourlife outside of your work?

Aphorismsof all kinds. The comedian .

15- What would you like to do that you haven't yet done?

Retire.

16- If you could pick any other occupation to attempt, what would it be? Or,alternately, what do you think you would have ended up doing had you not been awriter?

AnOlympic badminton player. But I would still write poems.

17- What made you write, as opposed to doing something else?

I wishI could tell you. I have no memory of making the choice.

18- What was the last great book you read? What was the last great film?

AlexanderChee’s How to Write an Autobiographical Novel and Grosse Pointe Blank,which I just rewatched. It still holds up (pun intended)!

19- What are you currently working on?

I’msurprised to find myself working in prose lately. And, as Dean Young’s literaryexecutor, along with Matt Hart, I’m also focused on bringing Dean’s first posthumouscollection of poems into print. It’s called Creature Feature.

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