12 or 20 (second series) questions with Jesi Bender

JesiBender is the author of the novel Child of Light (Whiskey Tit 2025), thechapbook Dangerous Women (dancing girl press 2022), the play Kinderkrankenhaus (Sagging Meniscus 2021), and the novel The Book of the Last Word (Whiskey Tit 2019). The Brooklyn production of Kinderkrankenhaus was atop-five finalist for the BroadwayWorld's Best Off-Broadway Play 2023. Her shorter work has appeared in Vol. 1 Brooklyn, Denver Quarterly,FENCE, and Sleepingfish, among others. She also runs KERNPUNKTPress, a home for experimental work. www.jesibender.com

1 -How did your first book or chapbook change your life? How does your most recentwork compare to your previous? How does it feel different?

I hada chapbook published in 2010 called Glossolalia by MFG ImprintPublishing.  I'm not sure how long theywere around but I can't find any remnants of them online anymore.  It had a very small run and sold mainly to myfriends and friends of my parents.  Itwas another nine years before my first novel, The Book of the Last Word, waspublished by Whiskey Tit, though I had begun that book at the same time asGlossolalia.  My novel felt more'real'—it got reviews, had people besides my family read it.  But the most significant part of getting thenovel published was that it connected me to many more writers.  As someone who thought it was more prudent toget an MLIS than a MFA, I've really cherish the community that came along withpublishing with a small press, as I never had that before.

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

I'minterested in language, its melody and myriad meanings.  It seems to me that poetry is a more readyopportunity to play.  Poetry seems tohave no rules, while fiction people really want to impose a lot of rules onyou.  That's my experience, anyway. 

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?

Mynovel and plays follow the same path.  Istart with a specific movement or event (Victorian Spiritualism for Child ofLight) and do copious research on the elements and people involved.  From those notes, I etch out an outline.  Then, I fill each chapter in with notes andphrasings that I've come up with so far and flesh out each passage.  After that, of course, the editing begins.

4 -Where does a poem or work of prose usually begin for you? Are you an author ofshort pieces that end up combining into a larger project, or are you working ona "book" from the very beginning?

Thepiece is almost always the piece, be it a poem or a novel, a play or a shortstory, from the get-go.  A singleentity.  I very rarely piece separateitems together to make one manuscript. 

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

I doreadings after publication usually, though I am not the best reader in theworld.  As a child, I was 'pathologicallyshy' so it has taken a while to feel comfortable in front of a crowd.  In a similar vein, I've loved having readingsand performances of my plays—it is so energizing to hear the words out loud andsee different interpretations.  I thinkevery poet and writer should write a play and see it performed.  It will change you!

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?

Yes,each work is asking a question and the novel or play or poetry collection isthe product of my attempts to answer. For Child of Light, a novel set in 1896 about a young girl tryingto connect with her distant family through their interests (Spiritualism anddomestic electricity), I'm concerned with meaning-making and epistemology andhow they impact identity and reality. 

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?

Writers,a subsect of the larger 'storyteller' group, will be important as long as thereare people around.  We critique, wedocument, we advocate and struggle—most importantly, we connect. 

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

I'veyet to have a difficult encounter with an editor on a creative project (onacademic articles, that's another story...). Editors are essential for not only the mechanics, but as a litmus forhow successful a writer has been with story, accuracy, and continuity. 

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

Investin yourself.  I think this is animportant thing for women to hear, in particular.

10- How easy has it been for you to move between genres (poetry to fiction toplays)? What do you see as the appeal?

I lovemoving between genres.  My writing styleand ethos makes it so I'm never really straying far from any genre, even whenI'm working on another.  Child of Lightis a novel but some chapters are poems or songs or visuals or dialogue.  They are always together.

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

I'm amom and have a full-time job so writing happens 'where it will'—late at night,during lunch breaks, when I'm waiting at a doctor's office or my daughter'sdance class.

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

I findarthouse films rejuvenating or I read small press books—I just picked up TheMothering Coven by Joanna Ruocco and The Maze of Transparencies by KarenAn-Hwei Lee, both from Ellipsis Press.

13- What fragrance reminds you of home?

I livein the woods, so leaves, grass, and dirt. Rain and wildflowers.  If we'reinside, popcorn.

14- 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?

Musicplays a big role.  I like books that'sing' to you and hold a real musicality. I also like modern art and breaking down form in new and unexpectedways.  I thought a lot about Victorianart movements while writing Child of Light, like the Pre-Raphaelites,Aestheticism, and Art Nouveau as well as burgeoning Impressionism, mirrored byphrasing and the use of Debussy's Clair de lune throughout.

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

Oh, somany.  I love Carole Maso, Thalia Field,Salvador Plascencia, Vi Khi Nao.  KurtVonnegut has been my hero since I was twelve. I'm a Vonnegut expert. I love Charles Baudelaire, Rainer Maria Rilke,Amiri Baraka, Federico Garcia Lorca. Finding Peter Weiss was revelatory for me.  So many. 

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

I'dlike to film a full-length movie, probably from one of my plays.

17- 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?

Theother jobs I want would be like winning the lottery—I'd love to be a filmmakeror a curator in an art museum.  In morerealistic alternatives, I think I would be a good support worker or autismadvocate. 

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

Iwrite, but I also paint, I make short films, I draw.  I'm an artist so I try out any medium thatinterests me.  But I think I keep comingback to writing because it lets me think. I feel like I can produce a morenuanced message in this form.  I can getclose to expressing what I mean.

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

I havejust re-read one of my favorite books of all time, Defiance by CaroleMaso, for my book club.  I also read anincredible graphic novel from Fantagraphics, The N-Word of God by MarkDoox.  I've seen several great movieslately, too—Downfall has incredible casting (and is timely).  Sinners was beautiful and refreshing and Ireally enjoyed The Last Showgirl, too. Pam Anderson does a wonderful job and I liked her character's complexityand single-minded approach to art. 

20- What are you currently working on?

I'mworking on finishing up a folk horror novel about Grace Brown.  Hopefully, there'll be a first draft by theend of the year.

12 or 20 (second series) questions;