August 17, 2014 Dodie Bellamy Live!!!!

This past Sunday, Dodie Bellamy came to Lightrail Studios to read from and discuss The TV Sutras (Ugly Duckling Press, 2014), a work divided into two sections, 'TV Sutras,' and 'Cultured.' The TV Sutras were created during a process where Dodie wrote after doing yoga and meditating, culling lines and descriptions from television. These lines from television are each followed by 'commentary,' or a sutra. Sutra literally means 'thread' and is an aphorism, or original thought. These sutras are in fact wise and useful messages. We talked about engaging in a spiritual practice in an urban environment, and how both the mundane and the cacophony of SF gets incorporated into the process of meditation. The book is full of beautiful illustrations by local artist Neil LeDoux.
The second section 'Cultured,' which is in prose form, tells the story of being in a cult, and investigates the charismatic leader. Dodie did extensive research into cults in preparation for the book while also bringing in personal history mixed with the fictional. The narrative goes from autobiographical first person to a more unreliable first person, and this becomes a metaphor for the cult leader. While there is a critique of cults, Dodie recognizes that we all have 'spiritual longings.' We discussed the function of cults and how other groups and relationships can also be considered cultish, such as MFA program.
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August 3, 2014: Jaime Robles

Today, amidst technical difficulties and incessant beeping, we interviewed poet Jaime Robles about her book Hoard (Shearsman Books, 2013). 'Hoard' is a term used for buried treasure and this collection focuses on a domestic hoard found in Hoxne, England. These poems were written while Jaime was getting her PhD at the University of Exeter. She used the act of burying one's belongings as a metaphor for the act of burying one's emotions. Since the hoard that inspired this book was comprised of the artifacts of women and domesticity, love is the central emotion investigated. There are reoccurring images of tongues, swans and a red boat. Jaime talked about how English is multi-layered in the U.K. and how this affected her interaction with language while living there. She also worked on public art installations and she shared these projects with us, including one commemorating the centenary of WWI, which will be shown on August 4th, called The Long Good-bye. You can find more information at http://thelonggoodbye.exeter.ac.uk/. There is also a Facebook page for 'The Long Goodbye project.' In additon, Jaime has written librettos for song cycles and one-act operas. She spoke about the process of a composer interpreting her words. Her creative projects come from a love of public art and collaboration. She ended our interview with a piece from her earlier book Anime, Animus, Anima (Shearsman Books, 2010).
You can find Jaime's blogs at jaimerobles.blogspot.com and trobairitzj.workdpress.com
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