I try to get some of it out there as best as I can. Ultimately, I’m not so altruistic a lot of what I do I do because I want to see certain kinds of poetries in the world, I want to see them proliferate, and I want to be in dialogue, somewhat, with those poetries. So I guess I want to do my part to advance the discussion instead of just sitting in my home, working quietly alone – how boring would that be? I’m a social creature and people inspire me. So the practical answer lies within the notion of community – if everyone really just did their own separate things and didn’t find ways, small or great, of supporting each other, enabling folks to hear individual’s words, we’d all be clamoring to get to some pointlessly solitary position on top of a hill built on each other’s efforts, but not in relation to them. And to do the latter comes at a cost, however indeterminate the bill.
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While I have done so (& creeped a few folks out), the point of that story is to note that I developed (or innately harbored & nurtured?) this sense that we’re all part of the great big group called, “Society,” even when we’re passively ignoring each other. I swore if and when I ever got a car, I would pull over and offer bus stop occupants a ride. I’d see all of these people riding by in mostly empty cars, sometimes stop right beside us at the red light, and presumably not notice us. When I attended high school in Baltimore City, I used to stand on the bus stop and freeze my ass off every morning with my friends. What motivates you to be involved with so many projects? What do you get from all your projects?
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You’re very involved in participating in the poetry community. She was kind enough to take some time to answer some question about her work in an epic interview that is, if I may say so, well worth the read. Amy King is the author of I’m the Man Who Loves You, Antidotes for an Alibi, and Slaves to Do These Things (Blazevox Books), The People Instruments (Pavement Saw Press), Kiss Me With the Mouth of Your Country (Dusie Press), and I Want to Make You Safe (forthcoming, Litmus Press).