I had some chances to see her at literary readings in the past, but there were no chances to greet her.
At first glance, I was hesitant to approach – she had an aura of strength. And there were always many people gathered around her.
Finally, at Los Angeles artist Linda Kunick’s ART SALON 2.0, which takes place in her art studio, Suzanne was a featured presenter. There, I could approach her, talk to her, and ask for an interview.
She studied with one of the most important American poets of the past 50 years, Pulitzer Prize winner and U.S. Poet Laureate, Philip Levine, an influential teacher as well as poet. Lynx House Press published her most recent Open 24 Hours, and individual poems have appeared in The New Yorker and other literary publications here and in the UK. She've taught various courses in poetry for nearly 30 years for the UCLA Extension Writers' Program, as well as for other universities and colleges. She've been influential in different poetry movements, particularly the Los Angeles based "Stand-Up Poetry" of the 80s, poetry that advocated for an intersection between academic writing and the daring irreverence of performance poetry. She is a 2018/19 COLA (City of Los Angeles) fellow, an award that comes with an endowment to create new work.
Here is our Interview:
J_ As I mentioned, our magazine’s topic this month is "family-reorganization.” Nowadays, in our quickly changing society, with developing technology and various new cultural trends, we are faced with challenging circumstances.
Among the changes-the number of single people is increasing. I heard you are single too. Is it correct?
S_ Oh yes.
J_ I think you are single by your own choice. However, many peoples are single not by their own choice but because of other social influences. What do you think about this situation?
S_ I'm very much single by my own choice, and in fact, I don't ever remember wanting to be married, even as a child during a time when Not to marry was barely a choice for a woman. Or, back then a woman might end up unmarried, but it was not a desirable fate. In those days, unmarried women were called "Old Maids," a condition that had about it a sadness. It was also assumed they had never had any...shall we say, romantic adventures. That term has not only faded from our language it's become meaningless. Here, in the U.S., the world has changed utterly. It's not the least unusual for women to live a single life. There are no "old maids" anymore.
You mention those who prefer to be married but aren't, and what do I think of that. I guess I'd have to make a distinction between those who feel lonely without a spouse and those who feel an obligation to get married simply to fulfill the expectations of their families or their society. Perhaps they should ask themselves if it's their own happiness or someone else's their thinking of. Do they truly want to be married or are they simply fulfilling a social custom? If they truly want to be married I hope they'll find someone.
J_ What is the meaning of the single life for you and why did you choose this?
S_ I don't have to answer to anyone, at least not on a 24-hour basis. I can come and go when I please. And I do. I can stay up all night writing and working. I can drop my papers on the living room floor and leave dishes in the sink for a while. I can eat at irregular hours. I don't have to call anyone to tell them I'm staying out late with friends. I don't have to check constantly to see how my partner's feeling -- about everything. I have responsibilities, yes, and work. I must meet deadlines, honor obligations and pay the government the taxes I owe. But to a great extent, I own my own life.
J_ How has the single life has affected in your writing?
S_ Well, I suppose if I'd just married and not had children I'd be able to carve out enough time to write. It's having children that most challenges one's ability to write, or-- do all kinds of things, really. I read that when Sylvia Plath had children she'd get up at the break of dawn, before anyone else, in order to find time to produce her astonishing poems. I don't like getting up early. I'm a night owl.
J_ In fact, many artistic activities are completed by the artists alone, but in the end, should the writing, or art, be enjoyed with someone else? I would like to hear your opinion on that.
S_ Oh my! No shortage of opportunities for others to enjoy my poetry, and me in performance, if they want to--as you saw the other night at Linda Kunic's salon (called Salon 2.0) I have so many readings scheduled, different kinds of readings, and presentations, some more unconventional than others. Because I have a long-time interest in film noir (black and white crime moves from the 1940s and '50s) and what I call "the poem noir" (poetry influenced by film noir or hardboiled detective fiction) I have an event forthcoming that I co-curated with an impresario and writer Susan Hayden. It's called Kiss Me, You Criminaland will bring together actors, poets, fiction writers and a popular rock musician (from the 80s hit group, The Bangles) to read and perform Noir writings.
And of course, my work's published--in my poetry collections, in literary journals, and literary websites online. So, I don't think a husband would greatly expand my readership--only by One.
J_ What articles or poem has represented the single life among your works. Could you introduce one of such work to our readers?
S_ I'll go with the most famous one, Virginia Woolf's "A Room of One's Own"-- such a seminal piece of feminist writing that nearly all the women of my generation and the previous ones, who were educated in literature and humanities know that essay. Also--I'm a bit embarrassed to admit it but Helen Gurley Brown's ground-breaking and somewhat trashy lifestyle book "Sex and the Single Girl" made quite an impression. I must've been about 15 when I read it. The book was a runaway bestseller, a sensation actually. I think that's when it occurred to me I didn't have to get married.
J_ I’d like to hear about the main themes of your poetry, your views on your poetry, and how do poems come to you?
S_ Like most American poets of the past many decades, and probably most English language poets, I "go in fear of abstractions," as Ezra Pound advised. Actually, he didn't advise, he ordered. But it made sense. Abstract nouns, abstract language, come across as weak in English language poetry--it leads to vague, lazy generalities and clichés. But maybe I-- even more than some -- aspire for tensile strength, a physicality, a sensory charge. The imageover the idea. Or the image as the means of transmitting the idea, the experience, or perception.
Beyond that, many of my poems rise from the landscape of Los Angeles--but not all. I also have irreverent, or wistful, or mysterious rather fanciful poems. Humor's an important element in many of my poems but, again, not all. The poem noir. Some of my darker poems approach the subject of violence, specifically violence against women. Beyond that, many of my poems rise from the landscape of Los Angeles - but not at all. i also have irreverent, or wistful, or mysterious rather fanciful poems. Humor's an important element in many of my poems but, again, not all. The poem noir. Some of my darker poems approach the subject of violence, specifical violence against women.
J_ On hearing you deliver your poems, I get a dramatic feeling—from your voice and gestures. What are some recurring subjects in your poems?
S_ I think I mentioned some subject matter in the last question. Re. performance--yes, after the Salon presentation you attended, which went over wonderfully well, a few people asked if I'm an actress. I did train as an actress and for several years in Los Angeles was active in theater. I'm comfortable in front of an audience and, on a good day, I can bring theatrical energy and liveliness to my reading without, as they say in the acting world, "pushing." I don't like grandstanding, over-thetop performances. They're silly.
J_ Finally, so many are single but worried, undecided about whether the single life is right for them. Could you give some advice for such people?
S_ I have to be careful about giving advice to those in a culture I didn't grow up in and don't fully understand. But regardless of how you feel about marriage or the single life, I can only advise: 1)don't marry a hard drinker or heavy drug user, 2) don't marry someone with tendencies toward violence, 3) don't marry someone who might not be a good father or good mother (that is, if you plan to have children), 4) don't marry someone who does not support your own goals, ambitions and aspirations, 5) don't marry someone for their beauty, because a few years down the line they won't be beautiful anymore, 6) don’t marry someone who spends more than he makes, 7) don’t marry to make anyone but yourself happy, yourself and your spouse--'cause it's no one else's business.
In ending our meeting, I got thoughts about I loved ones and what I chose the way and wonder that she maybe not keep life for her free enjoying l as single but she is chasing for one that she love it deeply and forever.
She looks like a Venetian masked lady whose eye is sharp and heart is strong.
She tried to understand fully with careful attention to others and she told her words in clearly. It is not so easy for finding a writer who has exposed all of the inner sides in their writings.
Anyhow, today I met and talked with a real writer.
Here I will introduce one poem by Suzanne Lummis.
The City in My Head is Perfect
At The Donut Inn all the men are in love.
Women more lovely than ever, and Evermore,
wander the empty lots calling
like low swinging bells, yet I am the object
of this love, and the destination—Saint
of the Freeways, Streets, this Avenue buses
float down with their cargoes of light.
Although some of these men I have seen,
now they seem more than they were —
they burn with something I want. Who
cares what anyone thinks?
The roar of traffic dispels its blessing
everywhere, wave over wave, like this,
yes, almost like this, almost like the sea.
- first published in Malpais Review
Jun K
* 《쿨투라》 2019년 5월호(통권 59호) *
