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Terrie Leigh Relf (Editor, FireWeed) Terrie
Leigh Relf has a B.A. in Buddhist
Studies/Buddhist and Western Psychology from Naropa Institute, and an M.A. in
English, with an emphasis in Rhetoric and Writing, from San Diego State
University. She has published four
chapbooks: Lap Danced by the Muse (2002), Metro Madness (2003), The
Ice Queen, an illustrated story book (2003), and Jupiter’s Eye
(2004).
A: While I’m not an expert on the publishing business per se, I have been
involved in a variety of capacities for twenty-plus years. Over the past
five-to-ten years, I have noticed a variety of authors and small presses who
have availed themselves of short-run and POD avenues. When attending the
Southern California Writers Conference,
for example, I noticed a few tables which held either POD services for
authors or authors who had books available through POD. I have also been
in a few anthologies which utilized POD and short-run to attain their publishing
goals. I believe that this empowers small presses and/or individual authors who
aren’t in possession of vast sums of money to publish. Depending on the
author and/or publisher, though, quality may, and often does, vary. A: Poetry doesn’t create schools and movements who
feud . . . The people who
write, read, critique, teach, and publish poetry often do this due to their
being human . . . Some of this starts off, I’ve noticed, as an open forum of
discussion. It’s organic. It’s about evolution. Change.
Exploration. What often happens, then, is people want to solidify their
genre or category of poetics. They often become dogmatic. Schools and
movements can be incredibly exciting, inspirational, and so forth. Personally, I
choose not to argue—or “feud”, as you call it—because I dabble in a
variety of categories.
A:
Arts Councils (be they government-funded, privately-funded, or a combination of
the two) aren’t only in the “business” of subsidizing poets . . . They also
serve a vital role in the community by providing cultural events and
opportunities for people of all ages. Furthermore, while I dislike using the
phrase, “setting a standard”, they often do just that. I admit that I’ve
occasionally encountered some “cliquishness”, and nepotism often reigns, but
in general, bringing the arts to a particular community—or to a global
community—is most often the case. For some, it’s the quality
versus quantity debate. What constitutes “good” poetry? This
harkens back to one of your earlier questions . . . People disagree on this, so
the more opportunities the better. There is a place, and I contend, a need, for
both. I also believe that there is overlap. For example, the committee for
the First Annual San Diego Poets Anthology (proceeds to benefit local libraries)
is, if I understand correctly, a short run.
A: There’s nothing like holding a book in your
hand . . . you can carry it
everywhere! One could argue that with laptops and other
internet-accessible devices, not to mention campus computer labs, library
computers, and internet cafes, that access to an entire library is just a click
away. We need both—and for a variety of reasons. One, not
everyone has access to a computer. Two, have you ever snuggled up in bed
with your computer on a rainy day? It’s just not the same as a book. As
an editor for both, I’ve often wished the Internet-only zines were available
in print, and vice versa for the print-only. As
to “worrying about sales”, most of the poets I know (myself included),
don’t write poetry to make a living. We’d still do it even if we never
made a dime . . .
copyright © Terrie Leigh Relf |