Russell Brakefield [Host: Joshua James Amberson]

On today's episode of The Lives of Writers, Joshua James Amberson interviews Russell Brakefield.

Russell Brakefield is the author the poetry book My Modest Blindness, which is out now from us at Autofocus Books. He's also the author of Field Recordings and the forthcoming Irregular Heartbeats at the Park West (Wayne State University Press). His writing has appeared in the Indiana Review, New Orleans Review, The Common, Rattle, and elsewhere.

Joshua James Amberson is the author of Staring Contest: Essays About Eyes (Perfect Day Publishing), How to Forget Almost Everything: A Novel (Korza Books), a series of chapbooks on Two Plum Press, as well as the long-running Basic Paper Airplane zine series. He lives in Portland, Oregon where he runs the Antiquated Future online variety store and record label.

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PART ONE, topics include:

-- writing routines

-- making a life of writing 

-- wonder and mystery

-- writing as a job or identity

-- Russ's first book Field Recordings

-- the concern of audience in art

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PART TWO, topics include:

-- Russ's new book My Modest Blindness

-- keratoconus, and Russ's experience with it

-- lamenting and celebrating the vanishing 

-- the thing we want to write vs the one that needs to be written

-- how the need to write influences style and voice

-- writing in connection with Borges's On Blindness

-- sectioning the poetry book on subject and threading them

-- paper and vision as metaphors

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PART THREE, topics include:

-- Russ's forthcoming book Irregular Heartbeats at the Park West

-- trying to continue writing while promoting two books

-- working on short stories and a novel

-- prose vs poetry writing

-- the addictiveness of narrative

-- music in Russ's life and work

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Podcast theme music provided by Mike Nagel, author of Duplex. Here's more of his project: Yeah Yeah Cool Cool.

The Lives of Writers is edited and produced by Michael Wheaton.

Episode and show artwork by Amy Wheaton.