1. Tell us a little about yourself and your writing, Jake:
I’m incredibly left-brained so if you’re looking for a really clever response to any of these questions, you will be sorely disappointed.

I have a love-hate relationship with writing. For a while I was really horrible at it, then got better and wanted to be a writer, then changed my mind.

I changed my mind because I’m an expressionist, and I value what we have to say through our art. So to me writing is about expression more than anything, and I didn’t want to jeopardize that by making my writing commercial.

2. How do you feel about Blackout Poems?

I think they’re brilliant. If only I were brilliant enough to be good at them.

3. How old were you when you started writing poetry? How old were you when you started writing ‘good’ poetry? How did you get there?

I was 11 when I wrote my first poem. As for good poetry, I don’t think I’ll ever get there. Though the first poem I wrote that I thought was worth publishing was in junior year of high school.

4. What would you do if someone changed your name to Octopi Sanderson without your consent, and then everyone refused to then call you Jake ever again?

I’d be really amused by that, but only for a little while. I’ve gone through ten or twenty names, pen names, legal names–they don’t really stick with me.

5. How do you feel about publishing?

I think publishing has gotten incredibly commercial, and I’m not okay with that.

6. Who is your favorite writer (and poet) and why?

This changes over time. Right now I’m a big fan of Jeffrey Eugenides because I could see myself writing like that if I got a lot better at it. He doesn’t have a set voice–which may sound bad, but I favour flexibility, and he’s just an incredibly powerful writer.

I don’t have a favourite poet at the moment, but I have been getting into spoken word, and Andrea Gibson is pretty fantastic. If you haven’t already, you should look her up.

7. Tell us about yourself, the self that isn’t a writer.

I’m a perfectionist, procrastinator, narcissist, and never happy about anything. I don’t get a lot of sleep. I have too much on my plate and even more in my stomach. I have more daydreams than dreams, and I’m a business major, but I don’t know the first thing about the stock market.

8. Is grammar important to poetry?

Yes, in the sense that people should know what they’re doing. If they write something using bad grammar for a reason, and it works, that’s okay. But if they just have no idea how the English language works, that is not okay.

9. Is Texas important to poetry?

No. There are some good poets from Texas on deviantART and other writing communities, but I was a member of the Poetry Society of Texas last year, and it’s a joke. Texas is not particularly well-known for poetry.

10. Lastly, who would win in a fight: Vonnegut or Palahniuk?

Vonnegut. Palahniuk writes like a badass, but he’s really just a big nerd. You can tell by looking at his face.

BONUS QUESTION:
Is it possible for art to eventually die off, once there is no more “newness” (hypothetically)?

No. There is never any newness, just people saying things in different ways. Everything’s been said before, but it hasn’t been said in the exact way that you or I would say it.
Jake’s question for me, H. Bell:
Would you rather have your left arm sawed off (no anesthesia) or never be able to write poetry again? Explain why.

I would never write poetry again.  But you didn’t say I couldn’t write anything so I would write things on my supermarket lists like “I am the saddest woman tonight,” and you can’t get mad because see, maybe I am just sad.  That isn’t poetry, just sadness.  And on my to-do lists I would write, “there are many things in this world that you must do alone,” and you can’t get angry about that because, well, it’s true isn’t it?  And then I would go to a hair salon and say, “here are my famous last words,” and it wouldn’t matter what I said after that, because it wouldn’t be a poem.  And you couldn’t get mad.

LASTLY VERY IMPORTANT NEWS:

(which I, of course then write out in entirety from the link because you people are assholes about clicking links and this is important.  As Jake has previously said, he is attempting to win a huge competition for an artist nonprofit he has started.  Read on-)

“A group of us on dA are starting (or growing, rather) a nonprofit art organization called Artist of Tomorrow. Currently we are in the Dell Social Innovation Competition to win $50,000 in seed money to help artists around the world.

You can help us get to the next round by voting for us here: [link]

1. Register (it only asks for an email address).
2. Click the promote button.

Here’s a bit about what we do:

1) We provide opportunities for individuals through art.

From high-risk kids in poor neighbourhoods to frustrated white collar workers, we aim to help everyone who has something to say by giving them the opportunity to do so through art. I’m sure you are all aware of the expressive nature and power of art–we want to bring that to, literally, everyone, so people around the world have the opportunity to express themselves.

What do we mean by opportunity?

- local support: branches in your community filled with artists who will support each other. We have artists around the world starting communities to help local artists.

- global network: currently working on a forum and interface on our website where all the local branches can get together and connect and interact.

- public support: we have a number of projects that aim to make art relevant again and create a larger market for artists. For example, One Million Pages (~onemillionpages) simultaneously increases literacy and helps out novelists and writers.

- resources: we are currently compiling tutorials and other resources by professors and experts in various art media to help artists grow their craft.

- direct exposure: we will be partnering with publishers, magazines, museums, art exhibitors (don’t know if that’s the right term for them), record labels, you name it, in the future to give talented members many more opportunities to be profitable at what they love without giving up their individual expression.

2. We increase understanding and openness on a global level.

Let’s be honest, art helps us see other people’s perspectives. Once we get everyone communicating, expressing, listening to each other, we can strengthen understanding, openness, and tolerance around the world.

Maybe that’s the answer to ending wars. Maybe it’s the beginning of world peace.

(Anything is possible.)

So in conclusion, this is a last ditch effort to ask artists around the world to help us grow the organization. If you believe in art, please vote!

We can also be found at ~artistoftomorrow.

ALSO:

Tomorrow is the LAST DAY to help get $50,000 for art. Voting ends at 5PM CT on March 5th, so please vote if you have not already and plug it in your journals so your friends can vote!

Love,

H.