Myron Michael Q & A with Eastern Iowa Review
Chila: "Word on the Street" is an utterly unique and captivating read, not to mention beautiful. How did you come up with the idea for it? You've subtitled it "B-side Epistle." Talk about that as well, if you would, in your response.
Myron: Thank you. I had been working on edits for When a Snake Swallows the Moon, which is a manuscript in a manuscript-series-in-progress titled The Plentiful and Readymade World, when the idea for “Word on the Street” came to me—after I received an email from Dictionary.com that said the 2015 word of the year was “identity”; and after numerous conversations with friends about identity politics, particle physics, or how mythology becomes religion.
“B-sides” were used to introduce music lovers to alternative singles, additional songs recorded by their favorite musicians, before the invention of cassettes and CDs. The lyric essay is an alternative to the traditional essay. I subtitled “Word on the Street” as “B-Side Epistle” because it is inspired by, but an alternative to, Rilke’s Letters to a Young Poet (and Harper’s Letters to a Young Brother, too); Letters to a Young Poet and epistles written by the apostles to members of their faith.
Chila: Which poet(s) continue to influence your writing and why?
Myron: Through poetry I understand relationships, and there are many poets that influence my writing, some more so than others: Common, formerly Common Sense, because I wouldn’t know what writing could be if it wasn’t for the spirituality and aesthetics of his raps; Black Thought, front man for The Roots, because I wouldn’t know what writing could be if it wasn’t for the history of hip-hop in and musicianship of his raps; Amiri Baraka, because I wouldn’t know what writing could be if it wasn’t for his life and poetry; and Jorge Luis Borges because I wouldn’t know what writing could be if it wasn’t for his book El Hacedor/Dream Tigers, which is my favorite book.
Chila: From a look at your website, you're involved with a number of projects. Can you talk about one or two of those you're most passionate about?
Myron: The Plentiful and Readymade World is a manuscript-series-in-progress—a heptalogy of walking poems—that I’m most passionate about; I read “Song of Solomon” in The Old Testament, which led to Octavio Paz’s The Double Flame: Love and Eroticism, which led to Plato’s The Symposium, which led to Thomas Bulfinch’s Bulfinch’s Mythology, which led to Lewis Hyde’s Trickster Makes the World, which led to Alice Goldfarb Marquis’ The Bachelor Stripped Bare, a biography of Marcel Duchamp, which led to The Plentiful and Readymade World.
I wrote the prelude, Prelude Insomnia, while homeless in San Francisco, California, drifting and thinking about a failed engagement, the golden means, how to identify patterns in nature that would inspire spiritual growth, color theory, and the definition of home; I wrote the first manuscript of the series, Some Parts, MI, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, to the memory of coming-of-age, family affairs, how things change but remain the same, form as ritual, and the transcendental power of music over its listeners; the second manuscript, When a Snake Swallows the Moon, I wrote while listening to Oliver “Tuku” Mtukudzi and reading essays written by Octavio Paz… When a Snake Swallows the Moon is a collection of poems about love and mythology inspired by the title of Peter Godwin’s book, When a Crocodile Eats the Sun.
Chila: You're a Cave Canem Fellow. Tell us just a bit about that experience, how it helped form you as a creative, etc.
Myron: Cave Canem helped form my sense of individuality, friendship, and collaboration among peers; I became a fellow immediately after completing my MFA, so it felt like the next step toward the direction of HELIOTROPE, a monthly reading series and MOVE or DIE, poetry collaborations: two projects I started while a teaching-artist for Writerscorps, San Francisco, but had been thinking about and working on since college while running a micro-independent record label.
Chila: Looking down the road, what's one very special artistic avenue or project you'd like to pursue/complete/renew in the next five years?
Myron: I look forward to the renewal of HELIOTROPE and MOVE or DIE; both are “under construction” since I shifted my focus toward The Plentiful and Readymade World; in five years I’d also like to have completed and published The Plentiful and Readymade World; that would be a dream come true.
Chila: "Word on the Street" is an utterly unique and captivating read, not to mention beautiful. How did you come up with the idea for it? You've subtitled it "B-side Epistle." Talk about that as well, if you would, in your response.
Myron: Thank you. I had been working on edits for When a Snake Swallows the Moon, which is a manuscript in a manuscript-series-in-progress titled The Plentiful and Readymade World, when the idea for “Word on the Street” came to me—after I received an email from Dictionary.com that said the 2015 word of the year was “identity”; and after numerous conversations with friends about identity politics, particle physics, or how mythology becomes religion.
“B-sides” were used to introduce music lovers to alternative singles, additional songs recorded by their favorite musicians, before the invention of cassettes and CDs. The lyric essay is an alternative to the traditional essay. I subtitled “Word on the Street” as “B-Side Epistle” because it is inspired by, but an alternative to, Rilke’s Letters to a Young Poet (and Harper’s Letters to a Young Brother, too); Letters to a Young Poet and epistles written by the apostles to members of their faith.
Chila: Which poet(s) continue to influence your writing and why?
Myron: Through poetry I understand relationships, and there are many poets that influence my writing, some more so than others: Common, formerly Common Sense, because I wouldn’t know what writing could be if it wasn’t for the spirituality and aesthetics of his raps; Black Thought, front man for The Roots, because I wouldn’t know what writing could be if it wasn’t for the history of hip-hop in and musicianship of his raps; Amiri Baraka, because I wouldn’t know what writing could be if it wasn’t for his life and poetry; and Jorge Luis Borges because I wouldn’t know what writing could be if it wasn’t for his book El Hacedor/Dream Tigers, which is my favorite book.
Chila: From a look at your website, you're involved with a number of projects. Can you talk about one or two of those you're most passionate about?
Myron: The Plentiful and Readymade World is a manuscript-series-in-progress—a heptalogy of walking poems—that I’m most passionate about; I read “Song of Solomon” in The Old Testament, which led to Octavio Paz’s The Double Flame: Love and Eroticism, which led to Plato’s The Symposium, which led to Thomas Bulfinch’s Bulfinch’s Mythology, which led to Lewis Hyde’s Trickster Makes the World, which led to Alice Goldfarb Marquis’ The Bachelor Stripped Bare, a biography of Marcel Duchamp, which led to The Plentiful and Readymade World.
I wrote the prelude, Prelude Insomnia, while homeless in San Francisco, California, drifting and thinking about a failed engagement, the golden means, how to identify patterns in nature that would inspire spiritual growth, color theory, and the definition of home; I wrote the first manuscript of the series, Some Parts, MI, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, to the memory of coming-of-age, family affairs, how things change but remain the same, form as ritual, and the transcendental power of music over its listeners; the second manuscript, When a Snake Swallows the Moon, I wrote while listening to Oliver “Tuku” Mtukudzi and reading essays written by Octavio Paz… When a Snake Swallows the Moon is a collection of poems about love and mythology inspired by the title of Peter Godwin’s book, When a Crocodile Eats the Sun.
Chila: You're a Cave Canem Fellow. Tell us just a bit about that experience, how it helped form you as a creative, etc.
Myron: Cave Canem helped form my sense of individuality, friendship, and collaboration among peers; I became a fellow immediately after completing my MFA, so it felt like the next step toward the direction of HELIOTROPE, a monthly reading series and MOVE or DIE, poetry collaborations: two projects I started while a teaching-artist for Writerscorps, San Francisco, but had been thinking about and working on since college while running a micro-independent record label.
Chila: Looking down the road, what's one very special artistic avenue or project you'd like to pursue/complete/renew in the next five years?
Myron: I look forward to the renewal of HELIOTROPE and MOVE or DIE; both are “under construction” since I shifted my focus toward The Plentiful and Readymade World; in five years I’d also like to have completed and published The Plentiful and Readymade World; that would be a dream come true.
Many thanks to Myron for a great interview. Only the very best to him in the days ahead. - Chila
Myron Michael received a BA from Grand Valley State University and an MFA from California College of the Arts. He has taught poetry workshops throughout Grand Rapids and the San Francisco Bay Area. His practice combines, whole or in part, performance, photography, music, video, and text through means of prose and or poetry. In collaboration with Microclimate Collective, he has exhibited work at Eidolon and Perfect Place/No Place. He co-created “Vertical Horizon” as a participant in Broadside Attractions/Vanquished Terrains, and is a producer at Move or Die, poetry collaborations. His poetry has been nominated for Best of the Net 2015 and the Pushcart Prize 2015 and 2016. Read more at www.myronmichael.com
Experimental Essay Award Winner (tie)
Myron Michael received a BA from Grand Valley State University and an MFA from California College of the Arts. He has taught poetry workshops throughout Grand Rapids and the San Francisco Bay Area. His practice combines, whole or in part, performance, photography, music, video, and text through means of prose and or poetry. In collaboration with Microclimate Collective, he has exhibited work at Eidolon and Perfect Place/No Place. He co-created “Vertical Horizon” as a participant in Broadside Attractions/Vanquished Terrains, and is a producer at Move or Die, poetry collaborations. His poetry has been nominated for Best of the Net 2015 and the Pushcart Prize 2015 and 2016. Read more at www.myronmichael.com
Experimental Essay Award Winner (tie)
