October 15th: What that Means for Me and You

Back in January, a poet and editor named Tyler Chadwick contacted me about an anthology.  He said that he was collecting an anthology of Mormon Poets.

I wrote back, "There's Mormon Poets?"

I didn't know about many.  I definitely didn't believe that I was the only one.  I had met Lance Larsen when he read at BYU-Idaho.  My friend Aaron Allen writes poetry and he studied under Kimberly Johnson, author of "Leviathan with a Hook". A fantastic read.

Of course, I knew some of my professors at BYU-I were poets.  I had taken classes from Mark Bennion, Matt Babcock, Jim Richards, Jim Papworth, and Scott Samuelson.  They were all influences on my beginning work.  I met Russ Moorehead at the church I attend in Brooklyn. I read about Neil Aitken and met him at the Writer's Conference. And in a strange coincidence I read with Timothy Liu at a reading this summer.  I have other friends from BYU-I who write poetry, have gone to school for it.

So, I wasn't exactly being facetious.  But I truthfully imagined the Mormon poetry world to be much smaller than it is.  Apparently, I'm not an island. This list, published in March, told me otherwise.

The book comes out today.  You can order it here. I have five poems in it.

I say buy it.  For some of you, when's the last time you've purchased a book of poetry? You've never purchased one, you say?! Well then, you haven't lived!

And you can support a small press publisher.  That'll make you feel good.  Small presses are some of the last bastions of good literature. Go ahead. Help a little guy.

NOW, YOU DON'T HAVE TO KEEP READING AFTER THIS.  YOU CAN BE HAPPY ABOUT ME BEING IN THE ANTHOLOGY AND LEAVE.  GIVE ME  A VIRTUAL PAT ON THE BACK.  I'M JUST GOING TO RAMBLE ABOUT A FEW THINGS.

Here's my digression on exclusivity in art.  Just a few thoughts.  You can still turn back.

I'm not a fan of art being exclusive.  I'm not bold enough or vain enough to ever try to give a definition of art but I will say that one of my primary goals in art is to communicate.  Before this I never sought out Mormon poets for a few reasons:

First, I don't really care what your background is when it comes to being an artist.  I never read something and wonder to myself, "Are they Catholic?" "Are they from the Midwest?" "Did they come from an abusive home?" "They sound like an only child. Are they an only child?"  "I wonder if their parents were rich."

This is not because I abhor background info.  That I somehow divorce the artist completely from the art.  But I don't need it to decide whether or not I like the piece.  Whether what has been accomplished is worthwhile to me.

There are many groups. Religious, anti-religious, intellectual, anti-intellectual, gay, straight, women, men, different cultures, different races.  Sometimes it's hard to get outside yourself.  My Midwestern blue collar single parent upbringing influences my writing.  It colors it.  I won't be able to shake it.  And neither do I want to.  But it probably won't appeal to everyone.  I will probably unknowingly and sometimes knowingly reference Midwestern Blue Collar Single Parent experience that people aren't going to 'get'.  Or like.

I'm also Mormon.  I grew up Mormon in a state where most people didn't know what a Mormon was.  It also defined me.  But it's all part of my make-up.  I don't divorce myself from it.  Neither do I write to a group of Mormon Midwestern Blue Collar Single Parent readers.  Frankly, I don't know any.

Second, I think labeling artists limits them.  I hate how music is labeled in music stores.  How they're always trying to fit a band into some category.  I think it makes us more comfortable to say: "Oh, he can write about the Holocaust because he's a Jew".  "Oh, this book is by a woman.  It's Women's Fiction."

Authenticity and experience is a whole other discussion for another day.  But when we label an artist, we make them fit our expectations.  And then we judge them on those expectations.  Do we feel Mr. Rochester in Jane Eyre is less believable as a man because he was written by a woman?  Because when Jane Eyre came out, it was under a man's pseudonym and a female critic of the time thought that women were ill written.

I don't want anyone to spend too much time reading this.  It's a blog after all.  You have facebook to check. Emails to write.  Movie trailers to watch.

My point is thus.  When I first heard "Mormon Writer" or "Mormon Poet" I immediately assumed, falsely, that I was going to read some Mormon culture poems.  Something about pioneers or church or family or temples or Utah. Or lame generic stuff about God and Christ.*  And I'm not completely wrong.  There are a fair amount of people who write this stuff.

But I was guilty of labeling as well.  I've met serious and deft poets who write about a variety of subjects.  None of it is restricted to preconceived notions of what "Mormon Poets" write about.  I tried to keep myself above them or away from them but I'm flattered to be in such good company.  I can be a Mormon Poet as much as I can be any other kind of poet.

*Yeah, that's right. I have a footnote.  It's about religious art.  I like it.  I am moved and in awe of many religious works.  But just like any work of art, it has to be inspired and original.  It has to have something.  Just because someone says God or Jesus or Mary or Allah or Buddha or whatever in their poem, doesn't mean it's good.  I've read a lot of generic suckfests that I'm sure came from a real feeling of religious devotion. And I HATE when someone says something like 'well, that really happened' or 'that's how I feel.' That's what journals are for.  If you don't want something to be judged, keep it to yourself.