“It is important to know today that people are being murdered. How can I get up in front of an audience and do a poetry reading and forget to mention that. If it is in the front of my mind, then its got to be at the front of the microphone.”
Series 001/09: in conversation with Eileen Myles
Eileen Myles (they/them) is a poet, novelist, activist, art journalist and a 1992 presidential candidate. They have been living in New York City since the mid-70s and now spilts their time between Marfa,TX.
We discuss the tension of poetry, the movements of the planets and their relationship to poetry, reading to a live audience and the power of 3x cakes and 3x rounds of "Happy Birthday", sung at their 75th celebration in Marfa, TX.
They have an excellent website which offers a very short / kind of short / really long bio options to read, including a homage to Animals. Eileen has been publishing books since 1978, recognized for their vernacular personal-narrative writing and titles include Chelsea Girls, Not Me, Pathetic Literature and The importance of being Iceland. They have made a formative contribution to the The Poetry Project, have contributed poems and others works to Art Forum, New York Review, Vice, Dazed and Confused, The New York Times, Playboy et al. Catalog essasy have been written about artists including Nicole Eisenman, Carolee Schneeman, Tabboo! Nan Goldin, and Jack Pierson. Using their platform to speak towards our social climate, Eileen’s participation in the world remains accountable. In 2022, they were inducted into the American Academy of Arts & Letters.
Interview by Emily Nam