Coming from the man who created the "Storming Bohemia" website, it's not all that surprising that Charles Kruger is not the sort of fellow who sits down with the intention of writing a certain sort of poem. You'd expect improvisation to play a part, and you'd be correct.
Kruger is the videographer for Litseen; I met him at a talk I hosted with Guillermo Del Toro last year. He's also an accomplished and published poet, so I had him read some poems that he had read at the Litseen gatherings called Quiet Lightning, a sort of moveable feast of literature, food and drink in San Francisco, hosted by Evan Karp.
"...this character just started yelling at me from my sketchbook..."
—Daniel Clowes
Daniel Clowes strikes me as the sort of writer who might have made a great spy — or psychologist. He has a very low-key demeanor, but when he speaks he has an easy air of authority. It comes naturally to him because he knows his subjects well — the people he writes about in his graphic novels, from 'Daniel Boring' to 'Mister Wonderful.' But it's more than just knowing people that makes a writer worth reading. Clowes is one of the best of our writers, one who cares deeply about his characters, even when they're so flawed they make readers uncomfortable.
In a graphic novel, art allows the writer to be amazingly economical with storytelling technique. Clowes is a master of characterization and storytelling using both words and art, and we talked about the writing and the art he uses to create his characters, in particular Wilson as well as Marshall, the star of 'Mister Wonderful.'
Clowes is a generous artist when it comes to talking about what he does, and he told me lots of things he might have left unsaid. He talked about the differences in his writing process for graphic novels and his movie adaptations, in particular 'Ghost World,' which won him an Oscar. You can hear his acceptance speech by following this link to the MP3 audio file.
New to the Agony Column
09-05-15: Commentary : Susan Casey Listens to 'Voices in the Ocean' : Science, Empathy and Self
Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Susan Casey : "...the reporting for this book was emotionally difficult at times..."
08-21-15: Agony Column Podcast News Report : Senator Claire McCaskill is 'Plenty Ladylike' : Internalizing Determination to Overcome Sexism [Incudes Time to Read EP 211: Claire McCaskill, Plenty Ladylike, plus A 2015 Interview with Senator Claire McCaskill]
Agony Column Podcast News Report : Emily Schultz Unleashes 'The Blondes' : A Cure by Color [Incudes Time to Read EP 210: Emily Schultz, The Blondes, plus A 2015 Interview with Emily Schultz]
07-05-15: Commentary : Dr. Michael Gazzaniga Tells Tales from Both Sides of the Brain : A Life in Neuroscience Reveals the Life of Science
Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Michael Gazzaniga : "We made the first observation and BAM there was the disconnection effect..."
04-21-15: Commentary : Kazuo Ishiguro Unearths 'The Buried Giant' : The Mist of Myth and Memory
Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Kazuo Ishiguro : ".... by the time I was writing this novel, the lines between what was fantasy and what was real had blurred for me..."
Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Marc Goodman : "...every physical object around us is being transformed, one way or another, into an information technology..."
Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 199: Marc Goodman : Future Crimes: Everything Is Connected, Everyone Is Vulnerable and What We Can Do About It
