MFA nonfiction student Susan Lerner‘s interview with Aaron Belz “Cartographer of Word Galaxies” is up on The Believer‘s (a McSweeney‘s affiliate) online presence, The Believer Logger. Lerner and Belz touch upon the absurdity of words, the inherent ironies of consumer product marketing, Belz’s balance (or lack thereof) of poetry and comedy, and his complete and total disinterest in writing fiction. Belz writes, “I don’t see why fiction is necessary when we have real life.” Despite that smackdown, the interview is recommended reading for poets and prosers alike.
Lerner and Belz speak at length regarding his poem “Alberto VO5,” which was published in Anti- right here.
The thing I like best
about Alberto VO5
Extra Body Shampoo
is not that it contains
nutrients, nor even
that it contains shine-
enhancing nutrients,
but the graceful way
it contains them—
which is the same way
you carry bitter regret,
my love, invisibly,
allowing it to work
its way naturally
through my hair.
Lerner asks: “Can you describe your process, how the image of the hair product, its ad copy claims, and the idea of ‘bitter regret’ all came together to form the poem?” And to excerpt Belz’s reply: “When I read a bottle of shampoo or moisturizer or other beauty product, I always perceive a dark subtext. The words haunt me. It comes across as humorous to the reader/audience, but in fact the words really do make me a little bit queasy. Nothing is as easy or natural as consumer brands want us to think—no problem is as resolvable.” It’s a constant amongst most comedians– covering up, or lampshading, something dark and unseemly with a veneer of humor. Suddenly this dark, unseemly something becomes approachable.
And this is sort of the precipice upon which Belz teeters as poet and performer with a dissertation on comedians under his belt. If he at all fascinates you, it’s your lucky day, because Susan Lerner picked his brain and the interview is up on The Believer Logger! Hm, deja vu…