10 Questions for Neil de la Flor, Maureen Seaton and Kristine Snodgrass
by Terese Svoboda
A literary equivalent of having a couple of friends over, Facial Geometry -- a collaborative chapbook written by Neil de la Flor, Maureen Seaton, and Kristine Snodgrass -- is an invitation to run the gauntlet of hilarity where every word is a whip-sharp feather. Experience a disturbing disintegration of authorial identity. Experience that identity reshape and reassemble as an intelligent chimera that stares you in the face with as many faces as you can imagine. This interview, conducted by Terese Svoboda, reveals the trickery behind the wheels of this wild collaboration. Put your intellectual seatbelt on and don't forget to read excerpts of the chapbook at admit2.
1. How do you do it? Standing up?
M: Whenever we can, in person, longhand in Florida. Failing conscious contact with each other, we utilize the net. We'll sometimes have four poems going at a time: one triad and three dyads. Our individual egos are outstandingly undemanding which means fun is the game, surprising one another the aim. Our collaborations take place constantly unless one of us is on the moon or broken.
N: First of all I didn't know we were writing poems. I thought I was just responding to emails and then they (K & M) presented me with a contract to publish this chapbook of poems I had supposedly written with them. My lawyer said it was okay that I wouldn't earn any money selling books of poetry, especially this kind, so sign away.
K: I prefer a bikini--mauve in nature, atrocious.
2. Who has final say? Who says What?
M: We're a democracy (although one of us is a tinkerer). Final say is often of the sure! variety. We are unashamedly in sync.
N: The Tinkerer is M. I'm outing her. It's M! It's M! Mostly because K and I respect her opinion so we let her tinker. Or maybe we're afraid of her. But I think it's because M is the best spellor (sic). Plus, I think we (or I) are too lazy to tinker. I get bored when it's time to edit. I like the chaos of writing.
K: The one with the red hair, the one with chastity, and the one with a tweaked voice.
3. Bloodshed?
M: Only when provoked. (See Pilgrim Raids or Planet Napkin.)
N: Once in a poem. I don? remember which one.
K: Only of other writers--ha!
4. Influence? Literary and substance abuse?
M: Influences: Abby, Malcolm, and Niko. More recently: Aaron Spelling.
N: Influences: Hector and hector. Each provides me with the letter H! If it wasn't for him I wouldn't have anything to write about or a clean house to live in. Substances: Rice pudding, Little Dippers, Guacamole.
K: Definitely substantial abuse of literature. I steal from whatever's on the desk. Usually some pretentious a-hole. (See Modernists)
5. 5. How helpful are children in the preparation of this volume? That is to say, concentration is not always a virtue.
M: Children and animals are an integral part of the (non-concentrating) twenty-first century continuation of surreal practices. However, this volume was prepared/ordered during a comparatively linear episode of Veronica Mars. Go figure.
N: With or without children I can't concentrate so I'm amazed at myself for being able to write more than two words sequentially within a two-hour time frame thus I had no hand in the preparation of this volume.
K: They fall all over me when I am trying to nap. They kiss and kiss and never stop being cute. They go to school on-time.
6. Roe vs. Wade--did the guy of you three find this remote?
M: We usually title the poem when it's finished. For this one, Neil hesitated, then said, sure!
N: Actually I thought Roe was fish eggs and Wade was something you do when confronted with rising water. (I'm the guy K!)
K: Yes, I did.
7. Did the pepper find you or v.v.?
M: We (as a triad) sent poems to Admit2 (a favorite on-line journal that only publishes collaborations) and NeoPepper contacted us to ask if we had enough pieces for a chapbook. We did. We're their first. Great press to work with!
N: What? Did I miss something here? Pepper? V.V.?
K: I found the Pepper and me and Abby sang all the way home.
8. Partial anonymity: boon or bane?
M: Partial?
N: Boon!
K: What anonymity? Everyone knows Aaron Spelling!
9. How much weirder the work is this than each playing alone?
M: According to Carl Jung's calculations we are all three introverts and therefore weirder than 75% of the population. This is as consoling as hot tar and duck feathers when we're playing alone, yet splendid serendipity when we're together. A no-brainer.
N: Yah, no-brainer. And Niko (Nico) sucks on a stuffed duck these days. I definitely feel less weird when I can hide behind or between two other weirdos.
K: Less weirdly. Variants of scathing manifestos against pop-sickles.
10. Doing it again?
M: As we speak.
N: As soon as I wake up.
K: No way. Not with these people.
