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Home 11/20/08 - BIZARRO CONWrote this from the airport, Sunday Nov. 16th: I'm sitting in PDX at 10:35 a.m., feeling gravity-heavy after two hours sleep, still drunk-phased from last night - this is me who left wide awake for the Bizarro Con and sits 72 hours later feeling like I found a flower in a garden and didn't sleep and spoke to it and cut shreds of my brain to feed to its pedals while taking in the water of its mind to drink myself. My body is sore but the reason my cheeks hurt is from the smiles I've been tasting all weekend, the reason my eyes are so bleary and weak is because they've been perpetually open, wonderstruck, radiating inside other eyes and the spaces in between - This event was tremendously solidifying for the Bizarro presence. It managed to bring so many of us together who may not have even heard each other's names before, gave space to all who wanted to read and share our words with each other as we hear them, hosted a perfect composition of panels (which were really more like roundtable discussions in which any man or woman was as encouraged to speak up as those "giving" the panel), and ended it all by crowning the two books that did the most for the genre in 2007 - D. Harlan Wilson's Dr. Identity, a novel that threw a new shade of color onto the Bizarro canvas; and Gina Rinalli's 13 Thorns, a story collection illustrated by Gus Fink, that manages to be totally raw in its emotion and remain precise in its impact. The Wonderland Award ceremony was beautiful and a perhaps overdue acknowledgement to several incredibly deserving innovative artists (myself included :-D - joke - no, but seriously). Afterwards, the Ultimate Bizarro Showdown took place, an event featuring 19 writers that was supposed to last only an hour but somehow, in our sloppy-bizarro-drunk fashion, ended up being more like four (?). The mad genius Garret Cook took home that award with an incredible performance (followed by Mykle Hansen in second and Carlton Mellick in third). And in that ballroom, where all the awards were given and us Bizarros filled ourselves with cocktails (lots) and Mexican food (vegan), where the convention which had been a weekend of dipping our heads into a collective tank of dream-plasma climaxed, its impossible for me to describe the beauty I felt, not in the objects in the room but in the radio signals floating between us, the projectiles of emotion and the constant shine inside the pond of every dilated eye. Looking upon the Eraserhead table, with all its books from all the years lined out, you could realize, fully, how much has gone into this dream already, how many writers have given everything they have to the page in the name of Bizarro, so many nights and mornings spent in that silent conversation with the pen. It was a monument, for me, that said first that Bizarro has worked and now their name is sketched in stone; and said second that the Bizarro movement has only really now beginning to move and the Bizarro you see today is only a seed of tomorrow. But aside from the romantic there was really only one reason we were there, and that was that we are all humans and have already given so much to each other, have already touched each other and made each other think something new, have talked and talked in electronic correspondance but, in many cases (in every case for me), have never even heard each other's voices - it was to be in each other's presence, and that was a bliss I loved every moment of. There are so many stories for what we shared there - every day was spend in sterile (though no less wonderful) intellectual thought, and every night, walking around the house, tunnel-vision, until the next dawn - but the biggest story is the story of this beautiful shared vision that all of us saw. My plane is leaving - so that's all for now. Check out Bizarro if you haven't already because it really gives the world something it can't get anywhere else. Until next time, bizarros - keep it real - in the words of Ol' Dirty Bastard, "I like ya muthafukkin' style." (Nov. 20th 12:24 a.m.: Let me restate as I type this up that I was very, very tired/still-sorta-next-day-drunk writing it, only two hours before I woke up to Rose O'Keefe's face hovering above my head, with Kevin L. Donihe reading some crazy manuscript off to the side, and Jeff Burk doing something and someone else doing something else... Mitch Maurade may or may not have walked in wearing an Obama mask... all a blur... but even if my sentences were kind of loosely juggled at points, I said all I meant to say and I wanted to keep it the way I wrote it at that moment, still fresh from the convention, minutes before getting onto my plane back home.) 11/03/08 - CHIMERAWORLD 5, ETC.So just a few days ago Mike Philbin released the fifth installment of his notorious Chimeraworld series. This is the first one I've ever been included in and I am stoked - it's got a lot of great writing, some from names that are totally new to me, and some from writers I'm already familiar with, including D.W. Green (who runs Crossing Chaos) and Adam Lowe (who's got an art-fiction fusion project called Troglodyte Rose, done in collaboration with artists Kurt Huggins and Zelda Devon, coming out from Crossing Chaos in July of '09). This anthology's theme is "The Rejects Issue"... and even in the intro, Philbin writes, "Gah, an entire issue devoted to rejected stories - that'll be shit, won't it?" But the point of it is that, today, the vast majority of stories are rejected only because they don't fit the particular niche-aesthetic that each of the multitudes of journals harbors. Philbin's mission is to save stories that simply don't fit any "niche," but are, in his mind, brilliant, and deserve to be shown to the world. I can't speak for the rest (yet - still waiting for my copy), but I can say that the story I've included is the best I've ever written in the short fiction form, and was rejected when I submitted it before because it was "too sci-fi" for the surreal journals and "too surreal" for the sci-fi journals. On top of that clash of genre niches, it's an extremely quirky piece, very experimentally written and coming to a conclusion that does not prescribe to the Hollywood sensation of making you want to smile, laugh, cry, or reach out and hold your lover's hand. It just ends the way the beginning neccesitated it, which is to say, fucked-up-as-all-hell. But still, I like to think, pretty damn good. (I can talk happily about this story because I wrote it almost a year ago - ask me how I like the poems I wrote this morning and I'll be speaking with a whole different sort of tone. Such is the nature of giving yourself to art every day). All interested parties can aquire the book here. In other news, things are moving along with Asphalt Flowerhead as the release date slowly creeps up on us. Tony Max, a brilliant surrealist painter who's come into closer contact with his own dreams than anybody else I've ever met, just sent us the cover art, which I'd like to share with you now:
This is from the Crossing Chaos website, which is why there's more than just the cover itself hangin' out there. I strongly recommend anyone who has not done so to check out the catalogue D.W. Green's got lined up already - I am personally as excited to read these books as one could possibly be. Jase has got some incredible stuff lined up, Fox and Locke both have some amazing stuff, Green himself will be putting out an incredible novel in the grand opening release, V. Ulea is getting ready to unleash "Quantum Fiction" upon the world, and Aerni and Jupitter-Larsen are both great, talented artists who will make a big impact on things once heard. Then there's everything Green's got coming up after the initial April releases... you know, sometime soon I'll have to do a real write-up of all this stuff. It's the most exciting publisher I've seen since Fugue State Press and I expect that they'll make a big difference in the realm of underground art. Also, be sure to check out Tony Max... if you're reading this, you'll love him too. Tomorrow's the election! I'm going to stay up all night, watch it from start to finish, and get on a boat out of America right away if McCain and Palin win... 10/07/08 - THE WONDERLAND AWARDSorry for my silence, but life in the city passes fast and I often find myself buried in things, Brain Spackle articles, poem scraps, my novels for Crossing Chaos, and a perpetually filling journal which will one day become a book called Mixtape. And homework! which I have had to touch since I dropped out of high school (and, realistically, since long before that)… all this to say that I have had little to report, as although I have been enormously busy working on a lot of things, all of them are in early stages and not even fully erected in my dreams yet. But Jase and I recently found out some very exciting news, which I would like to share with you: The Bizarros have a lot of exciting things planned for the end of 2008, including the first Bizarro Convention, and they have just recently announced that, at the convention, they will be giving out the first-ever Wonderland Awards for bizarro or surrealist texts. The nominees are as follows: Novels D. Harlan Wilson - Dr. Identity Gina Ranalli - Wall of Kiss Jeremy C. Shipp - Vacation Carlton Mellick III - Sausagey Santa Eckhard Gerdes - Million Year Centipede Collections Gina Ranalli & Gus Fink - 13 Thorns Vincent W. Sakowski - Misadventures in a Thumbnail Universe John Edward Lawson - Discouraging at Best Forrest Armstrong & Jase Daniels - This City is Alive It’s a big honor to be sharing the bill with all of these guys. I will be attending the convention (Jase too, I think, in the form of a puppet avatar) and keeping my fingers crossed, but whether or not This City is Alive is the book chosen it’s a big honor to be nominated at all, all of the books on the list are great and deserving of it. And regardless of the award, the convention will be a great thing for bizarro and unusual writing in general - a lot of seminars by the writers themselves, a lot of readings, (a lot of beer, knowing the bizarros), and the “Ultimate Bizarro Showdown” contest towards the end, in which every writer who has the nerve to enter will read a piece within three minutes, to be judged, primarily, by the audience (sounds to me like anyone is capable of being kicked offstage whenever their work gets people too restless) - and, formally, by Bruce Taylor, Gina Rinalli, and other offbeat writers. I’m very happy to have been included in all of this, and suggest anyone in the Portland area to look into the event as well - you can find all the information for it here. That’s all for now. Asphalt Flowerhead is in the publisher’s hands - which means, despite my impulse to always be tweaking things, I probably can’t anymore. And that’s probably for the better. Besides that, just trying to get things done - and keeping my eyes open to the new sights and sounds surrounding me. Anybody interested in communication beyond these dead telegrams, shoot me an email: delarocha59@yahoo.com. 07/30/08 - INTRODUCING THE COSMONAUTSLadies and Gentlemen, I'm thrilled to finally be able to announce the table of contents for the upcoming Avant-Garde for the New Millennium anthology. I could fill paragraphs with my gushings about these artists, but I'll refrain. The book will speak for itself. Before I lose myself, here we go:
(cover art by Jase Daniels) Fiction “Gigantic” – Steve Aylett Poetry “Book 24: Humble & So Humble” (From To the House of the Sun) – Tim Miller COMING SOON! 07/17/08 - AUTOPORTRAITI have had little news to report lately regarding publications, but the reason for this is that I have been working so hard on bigger projects that I haven't been writing a whole lot of short stuff to send out to magazines. I have had one acceptance lately, which is for a story called "Transcript at the Close of a Life Cycle," to be published in Mike Philbin's notorious Chimeraworld anthology series. I have been writing a fair amount of poetry too and hopefully some of that will soon be appearing places. But besides these brief excursions all of my time has been wrapped up by projects that require all my devotion to bring to fruitation - nevertheless I feel I owe those who may read this page occasionally some form of update and that's what this is. A portrait of my Self in the mirror: I am a young writer, turning nineteen in eleven days, who currently has the weight of several immenint releases stuck like a crown upon my skull and think about little else. Two days ago I secured an apartment in Brighton from which I will write full-time next year. Today I finished a section of These Walls Don't Hold Out Space, which I am taking in a whole new direction and which, finally, after miles and miles of writing in darkness to try and find some light, has exploded in technicolor, I am seeing not only light but visions strobing endlessly out of the blank. Some books write themselves; but all are fossils and whether they rest on the surface, waiting for the writer to touch them, or are sank beneath yards and yards of dirt, all are worth digging for; Asphalt Flowerhead (which may also be published by Crossing Chaos in 2009 - one more stud to the crown) proved to be an extension of myself, it flowed out of me as easily as if I had cut myself open and emptied myself onto the canvas - but Walls did not come so easily, and perhaps it is for this reason that I'm falling so deeply in love with the book and the writing of it. I have been writing the book for about nine months now, and like a pregnancy it has only just revealed itself from the womb of my mind, or at least truly; I have always been able to glimpse it in ultrasoundesque scans but have not touched it until just recently - all this to say, nine months of cumulative brewing over the topic (while writing it everyday, though blind, as a mother prepares for the life of her child without having ever met him) have led me to shades of light which I am in the process of articulating and beautifying for you, Dear Readers, to meet in a year's time. Today I will send Raw Dog the finished manuscript for Avant-Garde for the New Millennium. I'm very proud to see the thing in its full form; so many great writers came together on this one, and whenever I'm allowed to I will reveal to you who those writers are - I believe there's 27 participating artists in total, if you include the beautiful cover art which I cannot resist informing you was done by one of my best friends in this art world, Jase Daniels. And tonight I'll be partying with all my friends as I leave for Europe again tomorrow (the Paris trip was unreal and opened up new doors of thought, as Paris always does, for me), this time London for two nights and Germany for a week. Maybe I can finish up the manuscript to These Walls Don't Hold Out Space there. But primarily I will be absorbing a city of other people and the way they live, which is always a great excersize for the imagination. Lacking any annoucements of publications or such things I have tried to give you something else; something that says more than, "You can view my latest story here!" For writing in its essence is purely a dialogue within the writer's soul, and it is so highly personal that that dialogue rarely ventures outside of the soul and into realm of Real Things. I have tried to share with you the maelstrom of thoughts I have every day. I hope I have entertained you. 05/26/08 - NEW STORY IN STARFISH POETRYStarfish Poetry 7 came out yesterday and I'm very happy to say my story, "Plant the Seed," is featured in the issue. This is a great surrealist journal - every issue I've ever read has been filled with great writing from a lot of people whose work I believe in and is of actual quality, no gimmicks. And this is the last issue with Robert Chrysler, a great surrealist writer himself (and who will have some work featured in the upcoming Raw Dog anthology I edited, Avant-Garde for the New Millennium), as editor, so be sure to check it out! Not sure what Starfish will look like without Rob though I'm sure it will continue to be a real fresh source for surrealist texts, no matter what. Rob's done a great job in his reign and finished with a bang, including in his last issue work from Dischargers like D.D. Wildblood, murmurists, and Lazare, (the first two of which will also be featured in the RD anthology with Rob), and tons of other tremendously fresh poets and prose writers. Starfish does things very differently - if you are interested in quality modern surrealism I suggest for your own sake checking it out. I was hoping for some work from Kek-W and Mike Philbin too, but alas, not in this issue - I highly recommend digging through issue 6 (where their work can be found) and the rest of the archives once you've finished with the current one. You can read issue 7 for free online here. Lately been going through some turbulent times with my writing which've been producing crazy results, some very good and some not worth a second glance. The good stuff is all some of my best stuff, though, and I'm coming upon new things and new directions... writing is so exciting! No matter what that excitement is the only reason I'll ever be doing this. I promise right now I'll never consider the dollar in pursuit of my art - it makes me sick when I hear about artists trading their dreams for dollars. And hopefully soon the results of my mindsprawls will be wrapped up and ready to give to all of you. And also working on a book with KNEN, which I may have referred to earlier as Stencil Words but which we've lately been calling These Walls Don't Hold Out Space, and which should be published with Crossing Chaos, D.W. Green's exciitng new press, in July 2009. If you haven't seen Crossing Chaos, do so, it's mandatory - I truly believe Green's press is going to be one of the most important things going on in modern experimental literature, much like James Chapman has been holding things down with Fugue State Press. We need presses like Crossing Chaos. Visit them here. Starting the third draft of Walls soon! And working and working and in two weeks leaving for Paris... 04/21/08 - THIS CITY IS ALIVE EXCERPT ONLINEAll is quiet... been busy on some new stuff, some stories, even some poetry, that's starting to take me in a new and very exciting direction... the anthology is gettin' real close to full and every time I make a new selection I get a whole new level of excitement about the thing... I think it's going to be very important, I think it's going to open a lot of people's eyes... I've tried to gather as many important writers as I could together in one place and have had a lot of success doing it... and if you have been thinking about submitting but haven't yet, hurry and shoot me an e-mail at delarocha59@yahoo.com before it's too late... Just put up Chapter 3 from our art-novella, which you can view here. This is a section that I was very fond of when I first wrote it and still feel a lot. It's not my favorite section of the book but I couldn't include anything much later without it spoiling some parts of it, so this will have to do. In it, Nail, Chevy, Mesa, and the Captain find themselves on some sort of hallucinatory ghost ship and... well, you'll see how it unwinds from there. In other news, Jase and I have been receiving some very kind words from critics lately. Jeff Burk, reviewer for The Dream People and other publications, wrote about us on his review blog, Literary Strange Digest, and Kek-W wrote about us in his notorious Kid Shirt blog. Check both of them out and spread the word to help support DIY art! Feeling sick and tired, so that's all for now. I have a story called "Plant the Seed" coming out very soon in issue 7 of Starfish Poetry that's worth keeping a lookout for. I'm particularly proud of this one, I've been kicking it around for about a year and finally it found a home in this wonderful journal edited by Robert Chrysler. Good night... 04/01/08 - INTERVIEW IN THE NEW ISSUE OF THE DREAM PEOPLED. Harlan Wilson just released another issue of his fantastic online journal of bizarro texts, The Dream People. This ones got fiction from Cameron Pierce, Brandi Wells, Kevin Sweeny, Tom Bradley, and Kevin L. Donihe, as well as my good pal from Discharge, Kek-W. It's also got an interview with Jase and me about This City is Alive, so check it out! There's tragically few journals publishing this kind of fiction today, so we gotta support the few that are. Visit The Dream People here. |
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