Paul "Crazy good" Guest...
Last year I did a panel at AWP about poets who begin to write nonfiction, and it was a HOT topic. Because there's something weird (one panelist used the word "shame" and pretty much started a housefire) about working in prose.
You can argue if you want, but it's there... in a lot of us. Some sense that we've sold out. For money, a readership...
But there are many wonderful reasons to work in prose. Real and good reasons. Sometimes subject dictates form. Sometimes you need to speak to people who cannot speak "poem". Sometimes you need people to hear you...
Thankfully PAUL GUEST will never have to wrestle these demons, because when you get a major pre-empt from ECCO for your memoir and collection, after winning a motherf*cking (this moment demands such a word) WHITING...
...nobody can say boo.
Integrity? Yeah, I'd say Paul's got plenty. Not to mention talent and cheekbones.
YAY!
You can argue if you want, but it's there... in a lot of us. Some sense that we've sold out. For money, a readership...
But there are many wonderful reasons to work in prose. Real and good reasons. Sometimes subject dictates form. Sometimes you need to speak to people who cannot speak "poem". Sometimes you need people to hear you...
Thankfully PAUL GUEST will never have to wrestle these demons, because when you get a major pre-empt from ECCO for your memoir and collection, after winning a motherf*cking (this moment demands such a word) WHITING...
...nobody can say boo.
Integrity? Yeah, I'd say Paul's got plenty. Not to mention talent and cheekbones.
YAY!
3 Comments:
Integrity? Me? Never!
I have written poems, plays, short stories and novels and blogs. Why? Because each form has its pros and cons. I never sit down to do anything bar write. The subject matter has always dictated the form to me. That said, I still think of myself as a poet who happens to drift into prose and dialogue. Even after four novels it still feels strange thinking of myself as a 'novelist'. I can live with 'writer'; that doesn't feel quite so pretentious. The bottom line is it's all writing – everything else is divisive.
Paul does have rather nice cheekbones, doesn't he?
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