Gangbangs and Other Mass Rallies is prolific Canadian writer Ryan Quinn
Flanagan's latest stab at poetry. The book consists of 157 typically
short, highly accessible small press poems. The collection is highly varied in
subject matter and form and includes childhood anecdotes, personal reflections
& opinions, confessional verse, portrait poems, list poems and cryptic
“wandering” poems. In the underground tradition, there is undercurrent of
violence, of dead-end jobs, of drug taking, of barely tolerable relationships
in many of the poems.
Gangbangs is the thirty-eight year old Flanagan’s
24th stand-alone volume. In the interview which follows this review,
Flanagan explains his usual intuitive method of putting a book together, “I have never really liked writing from a single unifying theme. That
process seems limiting and constricting to me. I have tried it and don't find
that process very enjoyable. I much prefer to sit down and write whatever comes
to mind over a couple of months, and then look at what I have in its entirety
and choose from there. A few loose themes or motifs often appear, but overall,
the idea is to just let things flow and see what comes from that; to mine the
subconscious and make sure the conscious just gets out of the way as much as
possible.”
The
cover is designed by Mark Pietrzykowski, the publisher of Pski’s Porch and appears to
be of an African-American rally from the Depression era or perhaps earlier. Flanagan
says of the cover, “Marc has access to this great mass
of New York photo library archives which is fantastic to look through. For the
front cover I knew what I wanted and began looking out old rallies in the
archives. The images had to work with the title as well as placement of the
title. I sent a mock up to Marc, and he had it done and back to me in an hour.
It was perfect.”
The title poem itself is cheeky and perhaps
an extended metaphor of Flanagan’s “singular purpose” to get the writing done
at any personal cost. He says of the poem, “I do tend to like choosing a book
title from one of the poem titles and "Gangbangs
and Other Mass Rallies" seemed the most catchy. Besides that, the poem conveyed some of the
loose overarching themes I wanted to address such as individual alienation in a
mass urban society.”
Gangbangs and Other Mass
Rallies
There
is nothing wrong
with
large numbers
of
people
working
towards a singular
purpose
unless
of course,
you
are that singular
purpose.
And
you find that-
with
arched back
and
ass
in
the air-
you
have
their
undivided
attention.
(all
poems in this review have been posted with the permission of the poet)
Flanagan
writes honestly and urgently and with little revision. He is experienced and confident
enough to be ruled by his instincts, “When the poems
are written, that is the way they are. I never revise anything beyond simple
spelling and grammar issues. I believe that when you write, what came from that
day, that specific time and space is specific to that place and not to be
polished up or amended later on when you find yourself in a completely
different headspace. I don't want to censor anything I may say, so I just go
with my first natural instinct and trust that.”
His poem “Distance Runners Miss the Point”
appears to sum up Flanagan’s usual take on writing- be simple & direct
& use your words economically:
Distance Runners Miss
the Point
it
is best
to
say a lot
with
very
little.
Most
say little
with
very little,
or
even worse,
with
a lot.
The
more words
you
need,
the
more you have
failed.
Everything
simple
and poignant
and
direct.
Flanagan
says of the poem, “It does sum up my personal view of
writing pretty well. I do like to wander at times though, to play with words
and images and strange ideas. But in the many quasi-narrative type poems my
natural approach seems in keeping with the aesthetic laid out in "Distance
Runners Miss the Point." Life is short and we're not here for long, so
it's best to say what you mean and get on with things before you're dust and
can't anymore. I find such a simplified approach is much more relatable to the
reader as well.”
Upon
closer examination, Flanagan appears to use two different styles in Gangbangs. In the solid core of book, the poet uses well-honed
conventional underground verse. The best amongst these include “Talking Shop”,
“Sporting Goods”, “I Started Thinking of Jesus”, “Hoover”, “Attrition Monger”
and “Burial Wrongs”. Alternatively, Flanagan has written about a dozen or so extended
cryptic, associative poems which he calls “wandering poems”. The best amongst
these is perhaps the five page “Long Lines at the Grocers so Cars can be loaded
full as Sniper’s Rifles” but also impressive are poems such as, “Bloodlust & Chicken Wing”, “White Rhino”, “Aggressive Sales
Tactics Like Swallowing a Shotgun for Breakfast”, “A Box of 100 Letter Sized
File Folders” and “Punctured Lungs & Cryostasis”. The poems are usually set
in public places like a bar, mall, park or public library or bathroom. What
follows is a series of triggered thoughts and layered associations which jigsaw
down the page and collect like a multiple car pile-up.
Flanagan says of this second, more complex
style, “The wandering poems as I like to call them are probably the best
example of how my brain works. They are non-linear, almost steams of conscious,
but not quite. I honestly enjoy writing these types of poems more and more I
find. I don't consciously set out to do so, but I find that more of them are
appearing in newer works. I have always loved surrealist paintings and Dada and
such and the wandering poems allow me to jump around a bit like a frog
stretching its legs a little.”
The poem "Beds that are also Couches
so the Efficiency Expert can Sleep at Night" illustrates this challenging
homegrown style:
Beds that are also Couches
So the Efficiency Expert can Sleep
At Night
The water falls over your hands
like liquid spastics
into a sink basin beaten out
of the general bathroom nightmare
with lead pipes
and someone starts making homemade
postcards
and someone else stands in front of mirrors
sucking it in, imaging the clumsy suction
of angled vacuum love
beds that are also couches
so the efficiency expert can sleep
at night
the factory is productivity
in human form,
hands after hands as though cloning
a massage parlour ten million times over
and setting it loose on the fed pablum
of bald-headed parking meters
and the paper towel from the roll
is a child leaving home
my hands sufficiently dry to make purchases
and gang signs in equal measure
the fly done up
and the street walker
as well
coin laundry malcontents
tumbling dry cycle out
of hell
and I have worked enough of the convenience
racket
to know there is little convenience
in anything…
Time is wrong.
All the clocks have lied.
Flanagan says of the poem’s style, “It is
more a comfortable free association as you go along, not locked in on anything
specific, but rather gliding through loose sentiments and never forcing a
cohesion. There often is a loose cohesion when you are done, but it is flexible
and free and therefore often the most rewarding.”
Another
fascinating aspect I found about the book is although Flanagan is an apolitical
writer, he often takes a back-handed swipe at the system through a series of
the book’s poems. He is critical of factory closures due to outsourcing (“It
came down from the top”), offshore dummy companies (“Dummy Companies, like
Incorporating the Mentally Retarded”), the malleability of the law which
favours the rich (“Body Condom”), crooked banks (“Usury”), shonky telemarketers
(“Exit Strategy”) urban congestion & the pill-popping culture (“City,
City”) and an array of other societal targets.
Asked
about this anomaly, Flanagan replies, “I am not a
political person in the least, so I approach such things in a rather detached
way. I see that things are fucked and
the system is rigged, but I tend to avoid specifics and just comment on the
overall process because that is what is most universal to all of our daily
experiences, as opposed to some very specific griping which seems limiting to
me in some way. Plus, I just don't
really care that much about the specific politics in all honesty. What concerns me is the alienating system as
a whole and its effect on everyday life.”
Flanagan’s poems “Party Politics”- his take
on how house parties tend to splinter into three groups- “the women in the main
room, the men in the kitchen,/ and the peripheries mingling about like spiders
by the walls”, and more importantly, the satirical “You could Do Worse than
Lawn Furniture”, clearly demonstrate his underlying disdain for all things
political:
You Could Do Worse than Lawn Furniture
The thing I like about lawn furniture
is that it never talks politics.
It is goofy and ridiculous beyond belief,
But I know a world of people like that.
And they talk about politics day and night.
It hurts my head in a way the common
headache
could only dream of.
And another thing about lawn furniture:
you can sit on its face and it never
complains,
sometimes for many hours
until your ass grows
numb.
When people do that to other people,
someone always complains.
Usually someone else, not even directly
involved,
who claims that act itself
IS political.
Gangbang
and Other Mass Rallies is a clever, solid read full
of interesting and diverse poems for the seasoned reader. Flanagan is a committed
small press warrior who writes whatever he wants, when he wants and publishes his stuff on his own
terms. Flanagan's work continues to evolve and his “wandering poems” in this collection add a new layer
of complexity and maturity to his already substantial body of work.
Buy the book here: http://www.pskisporch.com/?p=606
Bio: Ryan Quinn Flanagan is
a Canadian-born writer who presently resides in Elliot Lake, Ontario, Canada
with his wife and many bears that rifle through his garbage. His work can
be found both in print and online in such places as: The New York
Quarterly, Horror Sleaze Trash, Evergreen Review, Bold Monkey, Outlaw Poetry
Network and Your One Phone Call.
The Official Website: http://ryanquinnflanagan.yolasite.com/press.php
Some other links:
How
long was Gangbangs and Other Mass Rallies in the making, including
the writing and publication processes? How was Pski’s Porch to work with?
About ten months in its entirety. After the MS was written I sent off a sample
to Marc Pietrzykowski at Pski's Porch. I
wanted to work with Pski's Porch because I really dug the work of previous
authors under the Pski's Porch banner, namely Catfish McDaris and Steven
Storrie.
When Marc got back to me, I built the full
MS and did a quick spelling/grammar edit before shooting it off. After that, the process was seamless. Marc was totally top shelf and it was
honestly the best experience I've ever had working with a publisher. I wish it always went that smoothly when
doing a book. Pski's Porch is first-rate
professional all the way!
You
often nominate a title for your books from a poem in the collection. Why was Gangbangs
and Other Mass Rallies chosen besides its catchy name?
I do tend to like choosing a book title
from one of the poem titles and "Gangbangs and Other Mass Rallies"
seemed the most catchy. Besides that,
the poem conveyed some of the loose overarching themes I wanted to address such
as individual alienation in a mass urban society. The only other poem title that was considered
was "Feeding the Machine" because it both implied and dealt with the
same issue, but that poem was more personal so we went with the more universal
one to make things as relatable as possible to the reader.
I note that Pski’s Porch designed the
cover. Where was the photo taken from?
Marc has access to this great mass of New
York photo library archives which is fantastic to look through. For the front cover I knew want I wanted and
began looking out old rallies in the archives.
The images had to work with the title as well as placement of the
title. I sent a mock up to Marc, and he
had it done and back to me in an hour.
It was perfect. Marc came up with
the image on the back cover trying to capture the carnivalesque nature of the
poems. He explained that the image came
from an old ritual which perfectly represented what I was trying to
express. I really love that image on the
back cover!
In some of your previous collections you don’t appear to have a dominant unifying thematic concern but rather structure the work through motifs. Is this the case of Gangbangs? Do you usually just write a shitload of poems and then offload them in book form?
In some of your previous collections you don’t appear to have a dominant unifying thematic concern but rather structure the work through motifs. Is this the case of Gangbangs? Do you usually just write a shitload of poems and then offload them in book form?
I have never really liked writing from a
single unifying theme. That process
seems limiting and constricting to me. I
have tried it and don't find that process very enjoyable. I much prefer to sit down and write whatever comes
to mind over a couple of months, and then look at what I have in its entirety
and choose from there. A few loose
themes or motifs often appear, but overall, the idea is to just let things flow
and see what comes from that; to mine the subconscious and make sure the
conscious just gets out of the way as much as possible.
When the poems are written, that is the way
they are. I never revise anything beyond
simple spelling and grammar issues. I
believe that when you write, what came from that day, that specific time and
space is specific to that place and not to be polished up or amended later on
when you find yourself in a completely different headspace. I don't want to censor anything I may say, so
I just go with my first natural instinct and trust that.
Does
your poem “Distance Runners Miss the Point” sum up your view of writing?
It does sum up my personal view of writing
pretty well. I do like to wander at
times though, to play with words and images and strange ideas. But in the many quasi-narrative type poems my
natural approach seems in keeping with the aesthetic laid out in "Distance
Runners Miss the Point." Life is
short and we're not here for long, so it's best to say what you mean and get on
with things before you're dust and can't anymore. I find such a simplified approach is much
more relatable to the reader as well.
Your
poetry is typically apolitical but in the collection you touch on how the
system is rigged- the banks, the law, the news, how the economy & the environment
are fucked, but you offer nothing specific, your criticisms are more of a hunch
than a stance. Do the poems, such as, “You Could Do Worse than Lawn Furniture”
and “Party Politics” best represent your views on political writing?
They do. I am not a political person in the least, so I approach such things in a
rather detached way. I see that things
are fucked and the system is rigged, but I tend to avoid specifics and just
comment on the overall process because that is what is most universal to all of
our daily experiences, as opposed to some very specific griping which seems
limiting to me in some way. Plus, I just
don't really care that much about the specific politics in all honesty. What concerns me is the alienating system as
a whole and its effect on everyday life. I've never voted in my life because I figure if a game is rigged don't
play it. It's the same reason I never
gamble when my wife and I go to Vegas. The house wins at your expense. I
understand the set-up and choose not to partake. Many of my poems have no overtly political
bent simply because other things seem to interest me more.
Although some of your poems are set in
Canada and you make numerous Canuck references, the poems are more about
universal rather than Canadian concerns. (The tongue in cheek “Je me souviens”
is perhaps an exception). Is this an accurate assessment of your writing?
I write in Canada, but do not consider
myself a Canadian writer. Again, I find
the geographical title limiting. I
prefer to write in a more universal vein, whatever comes to mind, and not have
it limited or constricted by such things as sex, religion, country, politics
etc. Je me souviens is a playful
exception. The title comes from the
official provincial motto of Quebec which translates to: I remember. I found that a simple and playful way to
write a poem about when I was younger. It's a true story as well, which I always prefer.
Ryan,
you appear to have two distinct styles of writing in Gangbangs. One is essentially
confessional- usually first person narrative poems. Poems such as, “Hoover”,
“Dykes on Bikes” and “Milking Your Prostate Is Not Like Milking a Cow” are easy
to follow and somewhat simplistic, although they are often original in subject
matter.
In
other poems, perhaps a dozen or so, are more complex and often work through
association and more intricate word play. I’m thinking of poems “Bloodlust
& Chicken Wing”, “White Rhino”, “Aggressive Sales Tactics Like Swallowing a
Shotgun for Breakfast”, “Punctured Lungs & Cryostasis”, “Long Lines at the
Grocers so Cars can be Loaded full as Sniper’s Rifles” and the like.
I was
just wondering how you developed this style and what you are doing, by say,
taking us through the poem “Beds that are also Couches so the Efficiency Expert
can Sleep at Night” (or any other you wish) by way of example?
I have found this as well. The more matter of fact confessional type
poems are much more straight forward, and often the backbone of the book. The other intricate word play or wandering
poems as I like to call them are probably the best example of how my brain
works. They are non-linear, almost
steams of conscious, but not quite. I
honestly enjoy writing these types of poems more and more I find. I don't consciously set out to do so, but I
find that more of them are appearing in newer works. I have always loved surrealist paintings and
Dada and such and the wandering poems allow me to jump around a bit like a frog
stretching its legs a little. "Beds that are also Couches so the
Efficiency Expert can Sleep at Night" is a perfect example of this. It is more a comfortable free association as
you go along, not locked in on anything specific, but rather gliding through
loose sentiments and never forcing a cohesion. There often is a loose cohesion when you are done, but it is flexible
and free and therefore often the most rewarding.
Have
you come across any new writers over the last year who you have immensely
enjoyed?
Oh plenty! Many of them seem to be centred around the Kansas City area for whatever
reason. Other I have read though presses
I like such as Pski's Porch. As well as
a few Aussies in your neck of the woods like Brenton Booth and Ben John Smith.There are many cool writers out there today
doing their thing.
What’s
next on your plate?
It should be a busy upcoming year. I have a chapbook coming out with Alien
Buddha Press in April called "Hello Brinkmanship," and another with
Clare Songbirds out of New York called "these things you see." There is also full-length collections forthcoming
with Weasel Press, Leaf Garden Press, Marathon Books, and White Gorilla
Press. I'm also slated to do broadsides
and a split chap with John D. Robinson who is a very cool writer. And hopefully working on something again soon
with Pski's Porch!
Thanks George!!
Resources:
Article on Huffington Post: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/58b24f94e4b0e5fdf6197341
Interviewed by Adam Levon Brown: http://www.adamlevonbrown.org/interview-with-ryan-quinn-flanagan/
Interviewed by Nelini Priyadarshini:
Interviewed by Fiona McVie: https://authorsinterviews.wordpress.com/2016/12/09/here-is-my-interview-with-ryan-quinn-flanagan/
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