Q & A
With Ryan Quinn Flanagan
Q. In the world of poetry what do you believe are the biggest setbacks for the modern poet?
A. Definitely oversaturation of the market. There is new poetry coming out all the time from all corners of the globe and with the internet opening up everything and eliminating geography to some respect, it will likely get increasingly harder to stand out in terms of content, especially for writers that are not so strong at marketing themselves. There are so many positives that come with the internet opening everything up, but that seems to me like the largest current negative impact facing the modern poet at present.
Q. Do you believe with the recent success of your live reading for UTB that poetry readings are moving more towards this reaching a far larger audience?
A. I’ve always thought that poetry was somewhat self-limiting as compared to other arts such as music and film which can reach much larger and much more mainstream audiences and reach them on an emotive level that the written word by itself finds hard to duplicate. That said, I did read recently about a noted upsurge among the younger generation in their interest in writing and hearing poetry. So I guess there has been a recent upswing in the popularity of poetry as a medium. Do I ever think it will reach the levels of popularity enjoyed by music and films? No. But poetry does have a seat at the table and in some small way it seems to be coming out of the shadows a little more. With the live UTB readings, I believe they are more popular because they are fun and done in good spirit with twists and some extra unexpected theatrics which I think are becoming more important in the current market.
Q. What are the ups and downs of dealing with indie publishers?
A. With indie publishers there are a plethora of personal interests and tastes and mindsets to navigate. You have to find the publishers you get on with best and work with best from a professional standpoint and kind of try to work with them as much as possible. I have been lucky in this respect and only dealt with a couple publishers where the experience was a tedious or negative one for whatever reason. Then I made a conscious choice to try work with the ones I really work well with. I’m sure publishers approach writers in a similar fashion. The great thing about being so connected now is that you can reach out to your friends and fellow writers for feedback on publishers they have worked with and how the experience was if you are thinking of approaching a given press about a new project. This has helped me greatly and I always try and offer the most helpful advice I can when people reach out to me with questions. I know of at least three different publishers I avoid because of what I have heard from the experiences of numerous friends and fellow writers. I think it is important to look out for each other out there.
Q. What truly frustrates you as a writer when dealing with other writers?
A. Definitely writers that take themselves too seriously and drink their own Kool-aid. Humour is very important to me and I find that writers or any artists that can’t laugh at themselves usually have an ego problem of sorts. Not always, but that lack of humour is an indicator for me. Most writers and publishers you will meet will be cool people, but we’ve all had those few experiences with those that seem to believe themselves the center of the universe. I try to avoid those few people at all costs and I imagine others do as well. I figure you either laugh at the joke or you become the joke. I choose to laugh.
Q. Do you believe the term outlaw in writing is truly overused when it comes to certain writers?
A. I do. I understand the tradition like with great writers like Todd Moore, but I think many wear it as a badge of honour, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but it has also become a pejorative term that more of the academic leaning folks will often use to knock down or group together writing that differs from their own personal tastes. It’s like pigeon-holing yourself when many others are want to do it to you. That said, many other writers that I enjoy reading most would probably fit into the “outlaw” tradition and many will openly identify with that which is cool. One of my favourite venues for writing is the Outlaw Poetry Network, so I also fit into that camp to some degree and there are so many great writers at OPN that I am honoured to share the page/site with. So yes, I do think the term is overused by various camps for differing reasons, but I personally have no problem with the term.
Q. Has there ever been a point when you considered not writing?
A. Yes. During my three stints in the psychiatric hospital I could think about nothing but dying. There was no creativity to be had and no impulse to search it out. I was like a zombie just waiting to die. Those places are some of the saddest places on earth and a real nightmare for many of the people there. The same goes for jail I guess. People romanticise places that should not be romanticised. I have friends that have been in both psych hospitals and the clink and there is nothing positive about those experiences. I know from my own that such experiences are soul-crushing and leave you absolutely drained and destroyed. I would not wish those places on anyone! My mind sort of came back but it took years.
Q. You are known as one of the most driven writers on the scene. What compels you to stay so driven?
A. Probably being scared of the alternative. If I don’t keep my mind busy the bad thoughts come back again so I like to stay busy. I also like to work with great writers and artists that inspire me. Seeing what they can create offers an alternative to seeing the daily carnage on the news. I’ve also worked so many mind-numbingly dead-end jobs (as I’m sure most of us have) that I know the alternative. Just being stuck in that cycle of drudgery and depression with nothing else. I try to create to get beyond that and to keep my own mind busy personally.
Q. Has there ever been a time when you have written something that has just been to personal for you to consider publishing?
A. For sure. Most the time I just put the pieces out anyways, but I would never read them. I tend to bury them in the books somewhere so that they are given their honest place in the overall experience and not censored in anyway, but it’s not like I want to see them every day that’s for sure. I just use real places and names as well, so that can become a problem for some at times. But James Joyce always did the same and I loved his defense that “if Ulysses isn’t fit to read, then life isn’t fit to live.” Because he does put in there what was going on every day in life, but people just weren’t talking about it. I kind of take the same approach.
Q. If not poetry what other genre would you be writing in?
A. I’d write music if I could but I can’t play any instruments and am not musically inclined in any way so that is not an option. I’d love to try a novel at some point and I’m sure I will, but my attention span is horrible and my mind jumps all over the place so continuing a single long narrative like that is tough for me. I do enjoy writing short stories and have my first short story collection coming out soon with all the artwork done by super-talented fine artist Marcel Herms. That guy’s art will knock the hell out of you when you see it!
Q. Has anything you ever written ever affected your personal life?
A. Not too much. I mean you lose friends and family writing in an uncensored way, but I’m quite the hermit crab as it is so that doesn’t really affect me that much. Most my friends now are long distance writing friends and I am pretty much estranged from my family. Many of my old friends never left the small cow town I grew up in when I was little and still have that mindset. There is no place for the arts there. My family never really cared for the arts either. So I’ve been pretty lucky in that I was just left alone to do what I wanted and what came most natural and no one really cared what I did.
Q. Is there ever a time that you have ever worried over becoming to complacent with your own work?
A. Of course. I think everyone goes through that at one time or another. But I do like to experiment a little as well with more surreal stuff, so that takes care of that in many cases. I am afraid of many things, but I have never been afraid to push myself artistically. I figure if I go insane at least I do it creating. There is a price to be paid and I can live with that.
Q. As a more isolated writer do you feel that benefits you to a degree?
A. Most definitely. I have lived in the big city and with my horrible attention span there are just too many distractions. I much prefer living tucked away up in the Canadian wilderness with nothing but the bears and the moose and the wolf packs to keep me company. And my wife, of course. She is a huge support and I owe her so much! But yeah, I seem to need a certain distance after an experience and living deep in the woods offers me that solitude to get things out with limited distraction.
Q. Writing workshops , good investment are total scam ?
A. Total scam. Anyone who demands money to “teach” you how to write is a flim flam. You just have to live your own life and experiences and let them take you where they may.
Q. Do you feel all really gifted writers are all fractured to some degree?
I’d hope not, and that you don’t have to be, but that does seem the case to me. I know I am and most the people I know that are writing and creating have gone through things and seem a little broken. In some ways that is what sets them apart and makes them and their work different, but on a personal level it is hard to live like that each day and see other people suffer with similar situations.
Q. You are a pro drinker has this ever got out of control for you at some point?
A. Oh yes! Hell, just yesterday I spent the day writing with wine and when I was done I went downstairs and got into the rum with my wife. Polished off bottles and when I woke up the next afternoon I had a hangover from hell and no idea where my pants were. I was 20 all over again. Back then I’d wake up in strange basements with no recollection of how I got there or what happened. I would have chest hair full of popcorn kernels and a pile of letters from those signs businesses use sitting on the floor and honestly no idea where I was. Throw in the drugs and that stuff gets magnified. At one point I was blacking out almost four times a week, no bullshit. Don’t do the drugs anymore so that has gotten a lot better. Plus, got away from bad “friends” or situations that made all that worse. Probably not a pro drinker anymore, I’d say I play semi-pro now in that respect, haha!
Q. Do you believe that sometimes writers have a tendency to romanticize addiction?
A. For sure. And I have been guilty of that very same thing. But it really isn’t something that should be over-romanticised. It comes with the territory, but it isn’t the whole damn farm. The writing and creating should always come first. When that stops happening you are in a bad place. I find that I enjoy reading many strong drinking writes and what many of them share is the crazy balls to the wall humour that comes out of the ridiculous situations that result. In this respect, drinking or other activities to excess can be quite successful artistically. You will pay on the other end though. We all pay the piper and often by enduring crazy bad hangovers the next day.
Q. If not becoming a writer what other path do you believe you would have been drawn to?
A. I don’t know if I had much else other than writing. I was pretty good at sports when I was younger so maybe that. I was a really good swimmer and soccer player. At one point I had an invite to try out for the national team. Team Canada Under 16s. I also really love fine art so perhaps working as a curator at an art gallery like Frank O’ Hara did. That would be my dream job. To be surrounded by all those amazing works of art all day and to know of the lives of the men and women who created them.
Q. What is your ultimate goal as a writer?
A. To surprise myself. I want to see if I can push myself to create something that perhaps was not initially intended and makes me proud to have been a part of it. I also enjoy giving myself and others a good laugh. Humour is very important in all facets of life and writing is no exception. I always enjoy writers that use humour such as Catfish McDaris, John Patrick Robbins, James D. Casey IV, Wayne F. Burke, K.W (Kevin) Peery, Eliana, Mark Antony Rossi, Alyssa Trivett, Kevin Martin, Scott Thomas Outlar and so many others. There are a lot of good people out there doing their thing (I know I’m forgetting so many) and I enjoy so much of it!
Q. If you had to tell a reader or aspiring writer to read just one book what would you recommend?
A. Man, that’s a tough one. Ask the Dust by John Fante perhaps? That is such a great book! I’d say so much of Buk, but that isn’t one book now is it? That’s a truckload of goodness. Another book that comes to mind is Knut Hamsun’s Hunger. I can just identify with that book so much.
Q. Most embarrassing moment in writing?
A. Probably a reading I did on a university campus when I was quite young and starting out. I had a full on anxiety attack and couldn’t breathe and lost my place and it was a complete nightmare. Even the loads of drink didn’t help that night. It actually made things worse. So that was embarrassing, but you always live to fight another day. As a side note though, I did not do another reading for a decade after that one.
Q. What is your proudest achievement?
A. I don’t really know. I guess we all have moments at various times. Your first book is always a big one. When you get that baby in your hands for the first time and smell the pages. As you go along that gets subsumed by other moments. So I don’t really know how to answer this one.
Q. How would like to be remembered?
A. As a good guy. Someone who always cared and honestly looked out for others. In terms of writing, as a guy who kept at it with a machine-like constitution but never forgot to laugh.
Q. Any future projects in the works or anyone you would care to mention here?
A. Well, a big shout out to my Frat brothers and sisters first of all! Check them all out if you have not already. There are many personal projects on the go at present. There’s something with Cajun Mutt Press and a short story collection in the works with Alien Buddha Press which is illustrated by the amazing Marcel Herms. Also doing a split chap with John D. Robinson and Holy & Intoxicated Publishing in the new year as well as books forthcoming with many others. And the Frat is always working on something new so I’m sure things will keep chugging along in that respect as well.
Thanks Dean!
Ryan Quinn Flanagan is a Canadian-born author residing in Elliot Lake, Ontario, Canada with his wife and many bears that rifle through his garbage. His work can be found both in print and online in such places as: Evergreen Review, The New York Quarterly, The Rye Whiskey Review, Outlaw Poetry Network, Horror Sleaze Trash, The Dope Fiend Daily, Under The Bleachers.
