Reader Meet Author: Zachary C. Bush

I don't normally interview someone twice, but there were two factors that lead me to send some fresh questions to Zachary C. Bush. The first factor was his sudden (well not all that sudden, he is a special writer) flurry of activity, and the second was our last interview was over two and a half years ago.

In the two or so, a lot has changed with ZCB, back in July he released his 1st full-length collection of poetry called Angles of Disorder (BlazeVOX books), and he has a new "experimental" (his words) book poems called At Swan Decapitation forthcoming through VOX PRESS. This is not to mention the min-chap, SPIN, that Kendra Steiner Editions just released and the forthcoming sequel to SPIN also through KSE. Needless to say, Zachary has been busy and I felt it was time to catch up and hear his thoughts on all of this activity.

Orange Alert (OA): Angles of Disorder is your first full-length collection, and it was released over the summer. What can you tell us about the collection and what has the reaction been like so far?
Zachary c. Bush (ZCB): While I am never truly satisfied, and while I am always looking ahead to my future poetic project(s), I must say that I am very proud of Angles of Disorder. The poems, and the collection’s direction(s), seemed to come to me all at once…and so I wrote as much as possible, then I cut a few dozen poems that didn’t seem necessary. I composed it all between September of 2008 and April of 2009. So far there has been a fairly decent reaction(s) to the book. I didn’t expect any, honestly. I was just pleased to have it completed, right? Well, I received excellent pre-release blurbs and mini-reviews that made me smile a little. I expect, as I get around to sending out large batches of ‘review’ copies to a group of willing reviewers and literary journals, there will be even more feedback…hopefully positive!

I received immediate feedback from Louis E. Bourgeois, Bill Shute, J.A. Tyler, Eric Nelson, David Groff, Laura Hinton, and others. I guess I will have a better idea as more reviews are released between now and late 2010. I believe that full-length collections of poetry, especially those products of a high quality, tend to have long shelf lives. It is possible that Angles might have a review here and there crop up every once in a while for the next year or two or three.

Oh, yeah, what can I say about this collection? ... It is a very, very odd mixture of realistic vignette///prose poetry in surreal fables///pseudo science and mathematics colliding with a near-human world of fantastic misunderstanding, loss, suffering, misunderstood beauty, and disorder/// and experimental lyric. It might be unlike anything I’ve ever written before its release. My next book, At Swan Decapitation (VOX PRESS, Jan. 2010), is like nothing I’ve ever written before…seriously. I won’t say much more about it, until later?

Note: My girlfriend (NYC surrealist photographer) Krista Schlueter did the cover artist for both Angles of Disorder and At Swan Decapitation, and she is (and I am not just saying this…) a fantastic up-and-coming photographer and artist. Check out her work at http://www.kristaschlueter.com . Many people have purchased my book based off of the cover, which I think is hilarious. Judge it! Hopefully the contents can match the outside appearance. She is turning many heads. Go check out her work…you won’t regret it.

OA: What was your experience with BlazeVOX like?
ZCB: Working with BlazeVOX was one of the best experiences that I’ve had in my still-young writing career. There are many great publishers that I get to work with—Bill Shute of Kendra Steiner Editions (a sort of mentor of mine in many ways, some outside of poetry) probably being one of the best out there. I am lucky to work with great people.

But, back to BX-- I had known of the press for a few years, especially the online journal. I had a few pieces accepted a couple of years ago online, and then one of those pieces was used for the cover of Louis E. Bourgeois’ The Animal (BlazeVOX books, ‘08)—great, great book—and I was immediately beyond-impressed with the quality of their books. I knew that I had to try and work with this press, if possible!

Geoffrey Gatza (BlazeVOX’s publisher) is not only a fantastic poet, but he is one of the most important/significant book publishers in the independent press. If you don’t believe me, then go take a look at the BX catalogue. Mr. Gatza is a professional all the way. This professionalism shows by way of his finished products. He is a publisher who clearly understands the essence of poetry…cutting edge poetry and prose…down to the marrow. If given the opportunity to work with Mr. Gatza again, then I would do it in a heartbeat. Of course I would.

OA: You forthcoming collection is called At Swan Decapitation, and you are calling it experimental. What makes this collection so experimental? How does it compare to Angles of Disorder?
ZCB: At Swan Decapitation is ‘experimental’ in the sense that the book contains a lot of found graphics, symbols, mathematical equations, and consistent splicing English with various Spanish verb endings and controlled...insightful jargon--creating a mad language—I don’t think I am doing it much justice. There is not much English in this book…but it is cohesive and conceptual. It makes sense, but many won’t think it makes sense. Many will hate it. Some might call it prophesy. The collection is just as much a visual challenge as it is a one for the ear, tongue, and mind. But is fun. I don’t think I will ever write a collection quite like it again, mainly because it took so much out of me. I have been working on this book for nearly three years. It has been a long process of writing and re-writing and experimenting with the language I have tried to create. I tried my best to keep it fresh. Not much repetition at all. The book, like Angles of Disorder, was written in one go round. It is shorter than Angles, but it is taxing. I think it is beautiful, and so does Louis E. Bourgeois, and so does VOX PRESS. It will be the first book this press releases. That is an honor, because the press has plans to publish some great writers over the next few years.

OA: Although it seems like everything is happening at once this has actually been a gradual process. Looking back, at what is still a young career, have you learned any secrets or do you have any advice for those just starting out?
ZCB: Write, write, write, and don’t be pleased too long with your current project. Get your poetry “out there,” and don’t be afraid or too snobbish about the publication venues. I hate snobs. I really hate them, because most of them don’t ever publish their work… or they only publish 5 percent of what should be published. I mean, I don’t think you should publish everything, because most things are not publishable, but you get my drift? You want readers, and you want to fall into a niche where you are appreciated, and you can’t do that by hiding in your basement. Don’t be the 55 year old who has been submitting the same book manuscript, his/her only one, to the same five publishers for 20 years. Get your work, support the small press, get it to publishers who are enthusiastic about your work, your vision, and your potential, and get your name out there. You will have plenty of time (if you are alive) to step back and decide where you want your work and where you’d rather your work not be published. Oh, and revise…revise…revise. Be a nut. Don’t forget to live some. That’s it.

OA: How has teaching affected the way you view your own writing?
ZCB: It has helped it in so many ways. I am pretty happy in this new role. It adds to the discipline process. It helps revision skills. I have to live and write like I instruct, right? I love teaching, especially first year composition. World Literature courses are a lot of fun with a mixed class of undergraduate students. Well, this is just my first semester teaching. I am only teaching a few courses as an adjunct, but I am grateful for any classes that I can get at this point. I am also in school full time, finishing my MFA. I hope to teach as many courses as possible in the near future. Great thing about NY/NJ is the number of great schools! I hope to teach creative writing workshops after I complete my postgraduate degree, but I will always want to teach a lot of Comp and Literature courses. My teaching mentor at CCNY just happens to be a fantastic experimental poet named Laura Hinton. I really, really respect her poetic path, and also her teaching pedagogy. I am lucky in many ways to bounce ideas off of her (poetic, literary, and academic, and a combination of all three) and to receive guidance when needed. We also share BlazeVOX which is cool, of course. Her latest collection is Sisyphus My Love: (To Record a Dream in a Bathtub). I have read it once on a few subway commutes, and I hope to read it again very soon.

OA: What's next for Zachary C. Bush?
ZCB: Well, I don’t want to limit myself…I just had a chapbook, SPIN, released by Kendra Steiner Editions. I have another solo chapbook of similar poetry being released by KSE in early 2010. By this coming April or early May I should be done with my MFA poetry thesis; this is a new book of original poetry. This will be a whole new collection of slightly more traditional poetry; not traditional by way of content, but as far as the poetic forms appear to the reader. Most of these poems—while wild in imagery, language, conflict, and imagination—are long free verse pieces; close to a page each. There is much more that I have to write between now and then. I’ve got a lot of notes and messy drafts. I think it will be an interesting manuscript when all is said and done. We will see where I go with it (once completed), or more likely where it will potentially take me. If the thesis is good, then I graduate with my MFA in Creative Writing. I am proud of this degree, because I have done it on my own terms. I love CCNY. I hope, in the not too distant future, to either complete an MA in Literature or Modernity (as I have been taking many MA level courses over the past two years, but not enough for a full degree), or possibly apply right away for a doctorate program, or do the doctorate after an MA. I don’t know. I am just living. I have no plans to leave to northeast area. I am happy here. I will also continue to teach as much as I can to pay the rent!

Bonus Questions:
OA: If you could sit down to coffee with anyone (alive or dead) who would it be?
ZCB: Ezra Pound AND William T. Vollmann. Both. Together.

OA: What were the last books you purchased?
ZCB: Selected Poetry of Galway Kinnell.

Wind in a Box by Terrance Hayes.

For more information on Zachary C. Bush please visit his website.