INTERVIEW WITH
MICHAEL CHANG BY: NICOLE TALLMAN I know you don’t like to talk process, but are you willing to talk to us about your writing life at all? Do you have a particular schedule or habits? Most of the time I’m studying, observing, thinking, deciding; the writing is the easy part.
Tell us about your latest book, ALMANAC OF USELESS TALENTS. What is it that you most want readers to take away from it? I’m never prescriptive about what I want readers to take away from my work. It’s so silly when artists do that. Kind of embarrassing, really. I think readers should take away from ALMANAC what they need at a particular moment in time, and then come back for new insights later down the line. One thing I will say is that my work lends itself so well to multiple reads: you tend to pick up different things on the fourth, fifth, sixth reads. Other poets write books that you read once, maybe don’t even finish, then regift.
Could you talk a little about such poems as BIG SHOT MANIFESTO, LE BAIN DE CRISTAL, and I ALREADY LOVE MICHAEL CHANG? I’d love to get some insight into your pacing, for example … it feels like rapid fire. I’m also viewing these poems through a lens of cultural critique. It’s like reading a review of the things you find wrong with the world, but in an entertaining way. I’d also like to know the role that beauty, desire, and pleasure play in your work. I always try to have my poems come across as breezy and fun. The poems often tackle difficult topics, but in a fresh and approachable way. I don’t think readers like being lectured to. It’s just poetry. It’s not that serious. I want folx to have fun. I want to make the work easy and accessible without losing the thoughtful, deliberative “craft” of it all. But I also want to challenge readers on their beliefs, and talking about desire/pleasure is a quiet, discreet way to do that.
I love how you approach language, and how you seem to invent your own lexicon in your poems. Talk to us a bit about that. Since you’ve worked in politics a long time, you perfectly understand the likeability factor. The whole “who would I rather have a beer with?” thing. I think a unique syntax or lexicon helps readers get to know me better. It also helps get my point across. I think it’s very important for poets (poetry?) to have a point-of-view.
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