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Gary Duehr Interviewed by Doug Holder
Gary Duehr is one of the many poets that have contributed to Somerville's reputation as the Paris of New England. Back in the 80's Duehr founded Somerville's BOSTON LITERARY REVIEW , that gave a start to many a budding bard. He has two books of poetry published WINTER LIGHT ( Four Way Books, 1999) and WHERE EVERYONE IS GOING TO ( St. Andrews College Press, 1999). His poetry has appeared in such journals as: AGNI, HAWAII REVIEW, IOWA REVIEW, and others. Duehr is not limited to one artistic medium. He is the director of the INVISIBLE CITIES GROUP, which creates outdoor performances combining theatrical elements, and installations of visual art and poetry. DH: Can you talk about the poetry collections that you have penned? GD:Iıve published two books, "Winter Light" and "Where Everyone Is Going To." By coincidence both came out in 1999, within a month of each other. I think I set a record for shortest time to elapse between first book and second book. I didnıt have a lot of time to worry about follow up. Each of those were a book-length series of poems, where each poem was part of a larger whole. And they each took place in Boston. "Where Everyone Is Going To" follows the misadventures of a guy named Gray around Somerville. He bears absolutely no relation to me. "Winter Light" takes place downtown Boston during one winter, the year of the OJ trial, and is what William Corbett called a detective love story. DH: You have released a new book from the Ibbetson St. Press of Somerville. The poetry deals with the 60's and the aftermath. Why did you feel a need to write this? GD: My new manuscript, "Beautiful Bullets", is also a book-length series. The chapbook that Ibbetson Street press is doing, "In the Bar Apocalypse Now", is excerpted from the fourth part. I wrote "Beautiful Bullets" because I wanted to find out what went wrong in the 1960s. Why did the bad guys Nixon, etc.. all win? I think weıre still living in the shadow of the 60s, in things like recycling and walks for breast cancer research. But we still havenıt fulfilled the dream. Writing the book I decided that it takes around 100 years, four generations or so, for society to change. Think of the Civil War and then the Civil Rights Act a hundred years later. DH: What is it about Somerville that attracts you? GD: I love living in Somerville and writing about it because no one looks at you crosseyed for being an artist. When I was in exile in Medford for a couple years, I actually had folks getting their dogs after me and the cops on me for taking photographs on the street. In Somerville, nobody blinks an eye. Theyıll probably come out and show you pictures the last guy took. And now that we have McIntyre and Moore we have a real bookstore again. All we need now is a coffeeshop and bookstore in Union Square, near where I live. DH: Any new projects? GD: My next project is a translation of a 13th century Persian book of poems, the "Rose Garden". Itıs my indirect response to Sept. 11. I wanted to connect deeply with Afghani culture, some of its classical literature. Otherwise I teach poetry and Bunker Hill and Lesley University, and codirect the Invisible Cities Group, which does performances in Somerville every couple years. Doug Holder * for more info. regarding Ibbetson Street Press or Gary Duehr's book contact dougholder@p... http://homepage.mac.com/rconte |