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Thursday, February 16, 2006

4 INTERVIEWS

1. My friend Kathryn Rantala is conducting an interview of me for WebDelSol. So far, here are the questions I have tried to answer:

KR: Carol, many people notice, certainly, that you frequently express yourself with humor, good natured dismissal or off-hand references to the demented (the Alice in Wonderland kind of demented), and this is certainly evident in the very name of your magazine, Mad Hatters' Review, many of your fictions and much of the work your editors choose to publish. This is evident in such a persistent way that it might seem to some to make light of your seriousness, and yet your own writing indicates that you are indeed a serious writer. Is humor truly at the heart of your writing impulse, is it your outlet of choice or does it just serve to make it easy to talk about something at which you work very hard?

KR: It would interest me and others, I'm sure, to hear what you think about the period in which you were not submitting work or, I believe, even writing. What were you doing? How long a period was that, and what do you think it gave you? Did you consciously not write, or did it just happen? Some people believe that extended travel is good for a writer--the time to regain perspective at a different pace. But a long lapse without that freedom....was it good for your writing? For your understanding of your writing? What did it add or take away?

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2
. I am interviewing Raymond Federman (see link to Moinous --- it's one of the few links that actually works!) for MHR. So far, here are the questions he has answered.

CN: I think when I write I'm always swimming about with one flipper in the so-called "real" world and the other in the shadows, presenting both worlds simultaneously. Where are you when you write? What are you presenting to the external world?

CN: What is the hidden meaning of the voices' statements on pages 33, 79, and the final page of his/their next novel?

CN: In your most recently published book ("My Body in 9 Parts"), you've written about your body. Why?


CN:
Do you think that many readers may not "get" what you're serious about because you are naturally so playful that the play camouflages or overshadows the serious themes that concern you? If so, does this trouble you, or are you ultimately writing to communicate with and discover yourself?





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3.
My friend Paul Toth (see link to his blog) is interviewing me for a project he's doing that has something to do with Ipods writers carry around in order to hear what other writers are saying about themselves and their writing, but I don't have an Ipod. The interview will take place on the 22nd.

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4. I have conducted a written interview of I by my Self. Copies of the Interview may be found in various editors' slush piles.


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Question: What would you ask if you were conducting an interview of your self/selves?

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