New Release: Scott Wozniak Radiating Like Insanity (Analog Submission Press, 2020) 28 pages

Radiating Like Sanity perhaps represents a transition in Scott Wozniak’s poetry. In the chapbook poems such as ‘Silence Keeps a Heart Beating’, ‘Reality Check’, ‘Spare Change for Flight’ and especially the title poem, Wozniak reveals a more sensitive, vulnerable side to his kickass, drug-addled persona he projected in his earlier collections Killing Our Saints (Svensk Apache Press, 2017), Crumbling Utopian Pipedream (Moran Press, 2017) and Shooting Gallery Vultures (Alien Buddha Press, 2019). 

Sober, Wozniak appears to be coming to terms with his life after addiction and his poetry shows a renewed sense of self and love for his family. He is more hopeful in his art and life, for now.

Here are two poems from the chap:

No Choice

It takes

a bold heart

and healthy dose

of ignorance

to step away

from your lot in life

to obtain dreams

that might not exist.

It’s more dangerous

than most know, and

often highlighted

by low standards.

For some though,

there’s no choice.

it’s more fulfilling

to accept failure

as a minor success

when compared

to living a life

you know

you can’t

accept.

Luminescent Lunatic

One of these days

you’re gonna see me

gasping for air

as a million shards

of orange and yellow light

fight their way through

my fractured chest.

My hands will be interlaced,

clutching the light source-

a tattered, glowing heart.

I will be unaware

of what’s happening

‘cause for years

I’ve held it in

And forgot what it meant

To shine.

I’ve ritualistically

extinguished flames

that burn deep inside of me

for so long now

that the fires have become

foreign objects

that feel fragile

in my calloused hands.

When they break free,

suppressed tears

will roll like pepper spray

down my face.

I will know,

As will you,

That it finally happened;

The cage door

Of the luminescent lunatic

Finally swung open.

I will be out of my mind,

I will be shinning,

exploding beauty

I’d forgotten I’d hid

somewhere inside myself.

On the day

I break free

you will see me

take deep breaths,

swallowing wind

by the mouthful

and hording the breeze

like life depends on it,

and in the end,

the only thing left standing

will be a six-foot diamond

ran through with imperfections

and radiating like insanity.

(posted with the permission of the poet)

Buy the book here:https://analogsubmission.com/chapbooks/radiatinglikescott

Book Review: Scott Wozniak & Andrew Nutini- Shooting Gallery Vultures (Alien Buddha Press, 2019) 86 pages

Shooting Gallery Vultures is a collaboration between the Oregon based poet Scott Wozniak and the American graphic artist Andrew Nutini. The collection consists of 74 poems, 31 of which are fully illustrated by Nutini. Most of his work is predominately in black and white and he cleverly represents each of these Wozniak's poems through a collage of striking and highly relevant images. 

In the interview with Wozniak which follows this review, he says of Nutini and their intentions in creating the book: 

“I first came across Andrew while stumbling drunk down a sidewalk in Tucson, Az in 1996. As far as I recall, he had the same swerving gait. We were both a couple of homeless kids at the time who became friends and shared many a bottle underneath bridges and overpasses. We lost track of each other for a long time but, thanks to the chaotic randomness of life, our paths crossed once more. By this time, we had both been honing our individual crafts for a while and kept saying we should work on a project together. It took a couple years but eventually the talk turned into reality. 

“From jump street we were on the same page, there was no briefing necessary. We both wanted to do something that was as brutally honest as possible. A no holds barred, no fucks given, portrait of life lived at the bottom, scrapping by with no desire for change, no hope for resurrection, no care for survival, no way out. We’ve both been there and wanted to show how it can be. Most books, one of mine (Crumbling Utopian Pipedream) included, will show this type of life but there’s always that undercurrent of hope, change, or overcoming obstacles. We didn’t want that, because, more often than not, hope doesn’t exist when living that life. We wanted to make a portrait of hopelessness.”

Andrew Nutini says of his involvement in the project and the processes he used in illustrating Wozniak's poems, "First off after reading Scott's book Crumbling Utopian Pipedream, I thought immediately how his writing would fit well with the collage style that I really enjoy creating. Then we talked for some time about doing a collaboration and he sent me some of his work to do some samples with. The coloured version of the poem 'exchange Rate' below was the first one. They started out as colour designs but they evolved over time to the grittier black and white noir look that seemed to fit so much better to capture the dark nature of the writing.

"The way I approached the process of creating these graphics was to read through the poems a couple of times and paying attention to any imagery in the words that jumped out at me. Then I searched for and created folders full of images that I thought worked to express the words in the most stark way. The first collages were pretty crude but over time they started to gain a visual rhythm and the grime started to stain the pages. They just evolved into a visual mythology over time that strung the whole narrative together. I really wanted to express the darkness of the words in stark black and white way since that is the struggle of life, the struggle between the light and darkness and it's where those two meet that creates everything around us. That play between shadow and light."

Some of the poems first appeared in alternative small press publications such as Paper and ink Literary Zine, Midnight Lane Boutique, Mad Swirl, Svensk Apache Press and 48th Street Press. As in his earlier books, Wozniak explores topics he is intimate with- life on skid row, drug addiction, the denizens of the gutter, staring down your demons, suicide and the over-arching noose of death. 

Despite the unrelenting hopelessness of their situation, many of the people who populate this book (including the author) are survivors, who stoically endure despite the cards dealt to them. The cart pusher in 'the Same ol' Uphill Battle' and the young woman in 'Looking for Scars with Blinders On' who has shaken off unspeakable tragedies are two examples who immediately come to mind.

On the front cover of Shooting Gallery Vultures is Andrew Nutini’s coloured graphic of a Phoenix, a mythical bird often associated with rebirth and regeneration. Its head has been replaced with an image of a vulture and the creature is holding drug paraphernalia in its talons. Asked about the work behind and the symbolism of this graphic Wozniak says:

“Andrew and I worked on the cover together by kicking ideas around. It started off as a similar but different variation of what it became. The original version was intended to be used for a poem that we decided to cut from the book. The poem sucked but the image was awesome, so Andrew suggested using it for the cover. Originally, it didn’t have the paraphernalia in it, but the more I looked at it it reminded me of the United States of America crest where the eagle is holding arrows and a shield in its talons. So, I suggested we add the rigs and spoon to make a statement about the opioid epidemic that is currently sweeping across the U.S. He liked the idea and added them in, he even put an eagle head on the phoenix. At that time, I hadn’t written the title poem yet and we were struggling with a title for the book. Once I wrote the poem, we both agreed that Shooting Gallery Vultures should be the title of the book. So, after also agreeing that the metaphor wouldn’t be lost by changing the type of bird, Andrew swapped the eagle head for a vulture head, did some fine tuning of the image and, BAM, cover done, symbolism (hopefully) still intact.”

The opening poem in the collection ‘Dreadful Submerge’ provides the reader a strong heads-up as what to expect from this “no holds barred, no fucks given, portrait of life lived at the bottom” gutter-lit collection.  The poem is more of a deep existential howl which expresses the speaker’s anguish at realising that he is trapped “stuck, submerged in disaster” in a lifestyle “whose magic has vanished”. 

(all poems posted with the permission of the poet and the graphic artist)

Wozniak, is a self-proclaimed "edge-walker" and fueled by booze, crack and smack- his persona is pumped-up and fearless of the consequences. His poems waver between an addict’s frenzied quest for a temporary quick high and the regret and the sense of doom which follows it. There is little comfort or hope in the speaker’s growing self-awareness of his predicament. In the poem 'Relief in the Shape of Doom' he has a foreboding  sense of dread:

         I know
there's no way
     the night
will end well,
 even if I get
  what it is
I'm searching for.
          relief
   in the shape
     of doom

He keeps “tripping on the same cracks”, keeps making the same mistakes, “smashed by my own hands” - even if it imperils his life and destroys the love of those closest to him. 

The dog-eat-dog, manic, depraved life of an addict on skid row is compellingly represented in many of Wozniak's poems; perhaps amongst the best are ‘Normal is What You Make It’, ‘Smoke, Bugout, Repeat’, ‘Taking Blasts at Innocence’, ’Jackpot on the Dumpster Diver Circuit’, ‘As Death Begs’, 'Together We Are Separate’ and ‘Miracle in Action’. The language and images are graphic and derive from a lived-experience. You can’t make this shit up! 

Some of the poems are in the form of harrowing narratives and describe events such the poet and his accomplices pretending to be narcs and ripping off 15 year-old kids, (“Even the Worst Laid Plans”), witnessing a possibly fatal shooting (‘Bleeding Restitution’) and being in a car which vindictively mows down some thieves who had earlier robbed them of their stash (‘Driving in Darkness’). 

In a previous interview, Wozniak told me “everything I write about is something I’ve experienced and encountered, life as lived.’ Asked if this statement still holds true of this book and how he goes about dredging up material from his past, Wozniak told me candidly:

“With fear of incriminating myself (actually, the statute of limitations has probably expired on most of these incidents) I will say, yes, this is still true. Guilty of all charges. 

“I’m always fishing for ideas, moments, or memories to write about, and it seems that the longer I’m sober, the more these incidents come back to me. A lot of times it’ll be some event that I had forgotten and suddenly, the memory comes back to life. Then I’ll try to flesh out the scene in my head for a while, then start working on lines. Once I get as many lines as my memory will allow me, I then either start writing it down and eventually move to the computer or typewriter or go direct to the machines to get it all down. After that, I might edit, I might not, it depends on the poem. Sometimes the process can take months, other times, it’s instantaneous, concept to finished poem in minutes.”

The title poem ‘Shooting Gallery Vultures’ is a powerful one whose impact is magnified a hundred fold by Nutini’s brilliantly dark vision (click on to enlarge- amazing detail!):

In the poem, Nutini graphically represents a scene in which  the speaker arrives with an acquaintance at a temporary camp where addicts are shooting up. One of the guys ODs and a few fellow derros flog through his pockets rather than give him CPR. The speaker leaves to get high behind a dumpster because it’s “bad mojo/ to get loaded/ by a dead body.” 

The insensitivity and bleakness of the poem is solidly reinforced by Nutini’s stark imagery in his two page layout: the anonymous hoodies, the menacing vultures, the druggie preparing to shoot up, and especially, the comatose bloke in the foreground- who is crashed out on a bed of daisies. All these images and Wozniak's wry words have a accumulative, shocking effect on the reader.

Another important poem in the collection is ‘Losing Pieces’, a two page poem (click on to enlarge):

The speaker of the poem, presumably Wozniak, recalls while in rehab "for the third time in two years" how a man tries to reassure him that he can one day “pick up the pieces” that “there’s still hope.” The speaker’s response is extremely bleak and at the heart of the message of this book:

     I assure him,

I lost that piece

          a long

            time

            ago.

Shooting Gallery Vultures was rejected by publishers for two years because according to Wozniak "they said the book was too bleak. Which I was like, “Um, yeah, that’s the point.” The book was eventually scooped up by Red Focks of the alternative small press Alien Buddha Press. Wozniak says of Focks’s involvement in the project: “Red was great. I shot him a copy of the project to see if he would be interested in publishing it and he immediately said yes. It only took him about 2 weeks to format the thing and have it print ready, which for everyone else involved was proving to be a difficult task."

Now that Wozniak has moved to Oregon for a few years and has established a more solid holding on his future, I asked him whether there was in the making of any new directions in his work. He says positively, 

“The next project I have lined up is a chapbook with Holy & Intoxicated Press sometime this year, there’s no definite date yet. Funny you ask about new directions, I think I’m going to scrap most of what I’ve put together for that project in favor of some different subject matter. I have this desire to switch gears from the gutter realism to more diverse content. Explore some other subjects, ya know?  Put out more work like what was in my last chapbook (Radiating Like Insanity) with Analog Submission Press. I just feel like it’s time to switch things up some. The poems about drugs, booze and hard times seem to be giving way to some of my more recent life experiences that aren’t centered so much around that kind of living. Who knows though, I say that now, but the crazy times always seem to find the page.”

Shooting Gallery Vultures is an unrelentingly dark but brutally honest collaborative vision of life on the street. It has been created by two survivors who has been there and who have lived to share their experiences with us. They don’t offer hope or transformation- they simply want to reveal to the reader what is really like to live as a drug addict and down and out on the streets without family or government assistance.

Buy the book here: https://www.amazon.com/Shooting-Gallery-Vultures-Tales-Tattered/dp/1709695773/ref=sr_1_10?qid=1580967397&refinements=p_27%3AAlien+Buddha&s=books&sr=1-10&text=Alien+Buddha

INTERVIEW WITH SCOTT WOZNIAK 30 JANUARY 2020

Scott, in your bio you describe yourself as a chaos/poet enthusiast.” Can you explain what you mean by that term?

That’s kind of a multi-layered explanation. On one hand, I’m implying that I revel in the chaos depicted in the stories I tell, and the chaotic days spent living them, or that I’m comfortable in chaos. On another, it’s a nod to the nature of life as it is— unpredictable, crazy, random, chaotic. Then, there’s chaos theory to consider. If you apply chaos theory to systems in the sphere of life that appear to be in random states of disorder certain patterns begin to emerge, these patterns don’t make the chaos any more predictable, but it can become recognizable, relatable, and slightly less surprising. Recognizing storm patterns can prepare you for when the storm hits, I feel the same about the chaotic nature of life. You start to recognize patterns and you can guess where certain actions will lead you to. You do some dumb shit, things start to get out of control, and you can look and say, “oh fuck, here we go again. I know where this is headed.” Then you can choose to hold on to your ass and ride it out or readjust your actions for a different outcome. But, then again, there are times where you can’t do shit, things are gonna play out how their intended to. In those times you just gotta get comfortable or enthusiastic about the chaos and learn to ride all the twists and turns and to take the punches life throws at you. That’s the area I try to live in, comfortable with whatever shit might come my way, a chaos enthusiast, a lover of life no matter how crazy it gets. So, it’s all of that, plus, I just think it sounds cool.

Who designed the cover? It appears to be an illustration of a Phoenix holding drug paraphernalia in its claws. What do you see as the symbolism behind this image?

Andrew and I worked on the cover together by kicking ideas around. It started off as a similar but different variation of what it became. The original version was intended to be used for a poem that we decided to cut from the book. The poem sucked but the image was awesome, so Andrew suggested using it for the cover. Originally, it didn’t have the paraphernalia in it, but the more I looked at it it reminded me of the United States of America crest where the eagle is holding arrows and a shield in its talons. So, I suggested we add the rigs and spoon to make a statement about the opioid epidemic that is currently sweeping across the U.S. He liked the idea and added them in, he even put an eagle head on the phoenix. At that time, I hadn’t written the title poem yet and we were struggling with a title for the book. Once I wrote the poem, we both agreed that Shooting Gallery Vultures should be the title of the book. So, after also agreeing that the metaphor wouldn’t be lost by changing the type of bird, Andrew swapped the eagle head for a vulture head, did some fine tuning of the image and, BAM, cover done, symbolism (hopefully) still intact.

Your poetry has been amazingly illustrated by Andrew Nutini in the book! When did you first come across Nutini and what was your brief to him for this project?

I first came across Andrew while stumbling drunk down a sidewalk in Tucson, Az in 1996. As far as I recall, he had the same swerving gait. We were both a couple of homeless kids at the time who became friends and shared many a bottle underneath bridges and overpasses. We lost track of each other for a long time but, thanks to the chaotic randomness of life, our paths crossed once more. By this time, we had both been honing our individual crafts for a while and kept saying we should work on a project together. It took a couple years but eventually the talk turned into reality. 

From jump street we were on the same page, there was no briefing necessary. We both wanted to do something that was as brutally honest as possible. A no holds barred, no fucks given, portrait of life lived at the bottom, scrapping by with no desire for change, no hope for resurrection, no care for survival, no way out. We’ve both been there and wanted to show how it can be. Most books, one of mine (Crumbling Utopian Pipedream) included, will show this type of life but there’s always that undercurrent of hope, change, or overcoming obstacles. We didn’t want that, because, more often than not, hope doesn’t exist when living that life. We wanted to make a portrait of hopelessness. 

 What is your assessment of his achievements?

From the very first illustration Andrew sent I was amazed. It’s uncanny how accurately he visually translates what I put down in words, scary almost, like he’s looking inside my head. When we first started talking about doing this, I knew it would be a cool project because he’s such an amazing artist and, like I said, we have similar life experiences to draw from. I always figured our styles would blend well, but he absolutely knocked it out of the park!! This project far surpassed my hopes for it. Without Andrew it would be just another book of poetry, instead we have made something more, something that I see as completely original. To me, it’s some next level shit, and Andrew’s work is the catalyst for that.

What was editor Red Folk’s involvement and direction in the project?

Red was great. I shot him a copy of the project to see if he would be interested in publishing it and he immediately said yes. It only took him about 2 weeks to format the thing and have it print ready, which for everyone else involved was proving to be a difficult task. 

Other than formatting, Red just made a couple suggestions on poem placement (which he was right about) and let the book fly. It was refreshing because a bunch of other publishers we’d approached during the couple years it took to complete the project passed because they said the book was too bleak. Which I was like, “Um, yeah, that’s the point.” But Red got what we were doing right away and helped us put out the book we wanted to put out.

You mentioned in an earlier interview you said that, "Everything I write about is something I've experienced and encountered, life as lived." Is this still true of your narrative poems in the book, including 'Even the Worst Laid Plans', 'Sunday Morning Mass, 'Driving in Darkness', 'Bleeding Restitution' and others? If so, how do you go about dredging up stuff from the past and getting it down on paper or screen?

With fear of incriminating myself (actually, the statute of limitations has probably expired on most of these incidents) I will say, yes, this is still true. Guilty of all charges. 

I’m always fishing for ideas, moments, or memories to write about, and It seems that the longer I’m sober, the more these incidents come back to me. A lot of times it’ll be some event that I had forgotten and suddenly, the memory comes back to life. Then I’ll try to flesh out the scene in my head for a while, then start working on lines. Once I get as many lines as my memory will allow me, I then either start writing it down and eventually move to the computer or typewriter or go direct to the machines to get it all down. After that, I might edit, I might not, it depends on the poem. Sometimes the process can take months, other times, it’s instantaneous, concept to finished poem in minutes.

You still fighting the demons?  

The demons and I cuddle more than fight these days.

What’s next for you? Any new directions in your work?

The next project I have lined up is a chapbook with Holy & Intoxicated Press sometime this year, there’s no definite date yet. Funny you ask about new directions, I think I’m going to scrap most of what I’ve put together for that project in favor of some different subject matter. I have this desire to switch gears from the gutter realism to more diverse content. Explore some other subjects, ya know?  Put out more work like what was in my last chapbook (Radiating Like Insanity) with Analog Submission Press. I just feel like it’s time to switch things up some. The poems about drugs, booze and hard times seem to be giving way to some of my more recent life experiences that aren’t centered so much around that kind of living. Who knows though, I say that now, but the crazy times always seem to find the page.

Thanks again Scott for your candid responses.

Bio: Scott Wozniak is a poet/chaos enthusiast living in Oregon. His work is widely published both online and in print. His books include Crumbling Utopian Pipedream (Moran Press), Killing Our Saints (Svensk Apache Press), Ash on Your Face like War Paint, Radiating like Insanity  (both Analog Submission Press), and his latest, Shooting Gallery Vultures (Alien Buddha Press).

Further resources:

Soft Cartel- 2 Visual Art & Poetry Hybrid pieces: https://softcartel.com/2019/02/20/2-visual-art-poetry-hybrid-pieces-by-scott-wozniak-andrew-nutini/

Here’s a link to Andrew Nutini’s instagram where you will find more of his work:  https://www.instagram.com/found_image_design/. 

Bold Monkey Review/ Interview of Scott Wozniak’s Crumbling Utopian Pipedream: https://georgedanderson.blogspot.com/2017/06/book-review-scott-wozniak-crumbling.html

Bold Monkey Review/ Interview of Scott Wozniak/ Janne Karlsson’s Killing Our Saints: https://georgedanderson.blogspot.com/2018/01/book-review-scott-wozniak-janne.html

ABC TV ‘Opioid America’ (19 March 2019): https://www.abc.net.au/foreign/opioid-america/10916816

Book Review: Scott Wozniak & Janne Karlsson Killing Our Saints (Svensk Apache Press, 2017) 72 pages

Killing Our Saints is a collaboration between the Oregon poet Scott Wozniak and the prolific Swedish illustrator Janne Karlsson. The collection consists of 23 poems and explores many of Wozniak’s well honed topics- loneliness, self destructiveness, drug addiction, facing the demons, suicide and death. Karlsson’s iconic artwork is highly expressive of the deep anguish and alienation expressed in the poems.

In the interview which follows this review, I asked Scott Wozniak how Killing Our Saints came about. He explains, “Janne and I have become friends over the last couple of years. In fact, he was one of the first guys in the small press scene who really went out of his way to encourage me and to express that he liked what I was doing. Which was cool for me because I’d been collecting his stuff since before I ever thought about trying to get published.

“So, for my last book, Crumbling Utopian Pipedream, I contacted Janne and asked him if he would do a blurb for it. He kindly accepted, wrote a great blurb, and informed me that he loved the book so much that he wanted to know if I’d be into collaborating on a project that he would publish through his Svensk Apache Press. Like I said, I’ve been a huge fan of his work, as well as most of the other poets he’s worked with over the years, so I immediately jumped on the opportunity. I was honored, to say the least.”

Asked about what attracted him about Wozniak’s work, Janne Karlsson told me recently, “I always prefer collaborating with people who write honestly without shying away from the shit and the smell. Scott is definitely one of those. He has lived his poems and there’s a lot to learn from them. Actually I’d say Wozniak writes ‘help yourself’ poems.”

According to Wozniak, the process of putting the book together was “quick and painless”: “I had these poems that are loosely based, in my mind, around the hardships and struggles of people living on the skids. I knew Karlsson had previously done a series of illustrations revolving around this same theme. So, I figured it would be easy for the poems and his art to mesh within this framework.

“I threw together a manuscript and sent them his way for feedback. He was into it, wanted to run with it, as is. I decided to tweak it a tad, pulling a couple of poems and adding others, but for the most part, what I sent is what we used. As far as the illustrations go, Janne just did his thing from that point. My feedback was minimal. I just wanted him to do what he does best. Whatever he chose to do I knew he’d kill it, which he did. “

The title poem “Killing Our Saints” sets the lugubrious tone for the collection. Wozniak uses second person perspective & suggests the reason we stuff things up is because we lead self-destructive lives & are blind to the beauty- of “the saints” in our lives.

                                                                                           Killing Our Saints

It’s between

the Devil,

you,

and me-

This life

we lead,

killing

our saints

because we don’t

recognize

their face.

Happy to leave

death

in our wake,

we string up

and torture

every bit

of beauty

this world

offers

in an attempt

to lead us

away

from the offhand

wreckage

we create.

Wozniak says the poem “Kiliing Our Saints”represents the darkest period of his life when he struggled even against those who tried to help him, “When I was at my darkest point in life (which lasted many years), I had accepted that as my fate, and would both sub-consciously and consciously self-sabotage anything with a positive connotation that was offered to me because I felt I didn’t deserve better.”

In the collection, this candid self exploration of angst is counter-balanced by the thrill of living on the edge, of dancing “cheek/ to bony cheek” with death (“A Final Bit of Romance”), of getting “your money’s worth” (“Nothing is Free”).

This hedonistic, I don’t give-a-fuck attitude is perhaps best represented in the poem “The Way the Universe Intended”, which previously appeared in Bold Monkey:

                                                                      The Way the Universe Intended

I’ve lived

under the pretense

I’d die young

and leave

a good looking

corpse.

With age extended

and opportunity

lost, my new goal

is to leave

the most gnarled,

no organ usable,

scarred,

bruised,

beat up

carcass

cemetery gates

will ever see.

I want morticians

to have nightmares

from the sight

of my remains,

I want Earth

to gag

as I’m lowered

in my grave,

I want worms

to be nauseous

at the thought

of digesting

my flesh,

I want hard living

and bad decisions

to read

like an epitaph

on my corpse.

The elephant in the room- the biggest demon Wozniak has to face- is that of substance abuse. To “ease the pain”(“Wrong is All He’s Ever Known”), the “torture” (“After the Struggle”), to “end the faceless turmoil” inside his heart (“No longer a Blaze of Glory”), “to silence/ this symphony/ of discord” (“A Risky Mark”), the persona of the poems, presumably Wozniak, cares about nothing but the next fix or drink or pill or snort to obliterate his emotions and dissolve his sense of self.

The poem “Who You Calling Crazy, Motherfucker” is compelling in the sense that it illustrates how out of control the life of an addict is, how they are unable to realize how fucked-up & deluded their life has become: 

    

                                 

                                                           Who You Calling Crazy, Motherfucker?

‘When the voices

speak to you,

wait till no one’s

around

to answer.”

“It ain’t crazy

if ain’t

out of the ordinary.”

He knew

how to cope.

He just didn’t know

this was insanity

in action.

In the powerful poem “Feelings, What Feelings?” Wozniak writes that he used to have “to consume/ un-godly amounts/ of cheap booze/ and ingest/ whatever drugs/ I could get/ to achieve/ my desired state/ of numb/ in the quest/ to not feel” but now he feels a general malaise and senses that the drugs have done their job and perhaps he “may never/ be moved/ to tears again”.

In “Stretch Tomorrow to Eternity” Wozniak acknowledges the need to someday to “start stopping”, but:

For now,

it’s easier

to feed

the habits

starving

my senses.

Besides,

I wouldn’t know

where to begin,

I’m not me

without

the poison.”

Killing Our Saints is fascinating collection of confessional poems from an addict who has lived the life and who now feels the urgent need to tell us about it in a raw, honest way- without the bullshit or pretense. The best thing about the book is that Wozniak never preaches to us or feels sorry for himself or tells us he has been reborn. Instead he lays it bare before us- all his faults and stuff ups & tells us how he’d like to change- but fuck it! He is who he is.

(All poems and artwork have been posted with the composers' permission)

Buy the book here: http://www.lulu.com/au/en/shop/janne-karlsson-and-scott-wozniak/killing-our-saints/paperback/product-23415290.html

INTERVIEW WITH SCOTT WOZNIAK 12 JANUARY 2018

Scott, can you briefly explain the conception & development of the book, especially your working relationship with Janne Karlsson & his involvement in the project.

Janne and I have become friends over the last couple of years. In fact, he was one of the first guys in the small press scene who really went out of his way to encourage me and to express that he liked what I was doing. Which was cool for me because I’d been collecting his stuff since before I ever thought about trying to get published.

So, for my last book, Crumbling Utopian Pipedream, I contacted Janne and asked him if he would do a blurb for it. He kindly accepted, wrote a great blurb, and informed me that he loved the book so much that he wanted to know if I’d be into collaborating on a project that he would publish through his Svensk Apache Press. Like I said, I’ve been a huge fan of his work, as well as most of the other poets he’s worked with over the years, so I immediately jumped on the opportunity. I was honored, to say the least.

From there it was quick and painless. I had these poems that are loosely based, in my mind, around the hardships and struggles of people living on the skids. I knew he’d previously done a series of illustrations revolving around this same theme. So, I figured it would be easy for the poems and his art to mesh within this framework.

I threw together a manuscript and sent them his way for feedback. He was into it, wanted to run with it, as is. I decided to tweak it a tad, pulling a couple of poems and adding others, but for the most part, what I sent is what we used. As far as the illustrations go, Janne just did his thing from that point. My feedback was minimal. I just wanted him to do what he does best. Whatever he chose to do I knew he’d kill it, which he did. What he came up with was different from what I thought he might do. There’s a very surreal vibe running through the drawings he chose, which I love. I think they help lighten the mood of the book a bit. I’m glad I kept my mouth shut and just let him work.

Are the poems & illustrations strictly synchronised or is there a creative interplay?

I can’t really say for sure, I’m afraid the real answer is rattling around Janne’s beautifully twisted mind, you’d have to ask him. But, in my opinion, I’d say it’s a bit of both going on.

What's your take on the title poem "Killing Our Saints"?

I’d hate to detract anything from anyone’s own take of this poem, but I will say, that when I was at my darkest point in life (which lasted many years), I had accepted that as my fate, and would both sub-consciously and consciously self-sabotage anything with a positive connotation that was offered to me because I felt I didn’t deserve better. I think this is a common trait for people who scrape bottom for long periods of time.

Most of the poems identify with those people living on the edge- addicts, misfits, failures, the insane and the suicidal. Can you briefly explain your creds to write this harrowing stuff?

Let me just say this, I’ve been an edge walker for most of my life and have qualified for each of these categories, among others, at one point in time or another. I’ll leave it to the reader to decide if I’m full of shit or not.

You nailed that question, Scott. Despite the gloom, you sometimes offer the reader a rare beam of hope. What realistic advice, if any, would you give to those down on their luck?

I’d steal a friend’s line, “chin down, hands up.” Only when we throw-in the towel are we defeated. It might not be easy, but shit can get better.

Do you see people being at the bottom because of "self-inflicted,/ prisons of choice" ("Missing the Target") or for wider societal factors?

As I point to in the first stanza of this poem, “reasons we’d rather forget,” can be a broad spectrum of horrific experiences that led us to the bottom. And yes, a lot of times, it is perpetuated by a lack of resources for help coping with these experiences, which is very much a societal factor. Lack of mental health care, addiction recovery, job training and financial assistance programs are just the beginning. And, in my experience, once you find yourself in a situation that you see no way out of, you often cling to some sort of substance or “self-inflicted prison,” to numb yourself to the “hellish existence” you are enduring. Thus perpetuating the very thing you hope to escape. It’s very much like the snake eating its own tail. But how one gets to the bottom can be a multitude of factors, I think, it is rarely one thing but rather a compounding of many.

Strongly stated! Anyways, how have you faring now? How have you coped with the demons?

For the time being, things are well. My demons and I are living together in acceptance of one another. There hasn’t been a power struggle for dominance by them for a while. I recognize them, know they are always around, but if I treat them like animals at the zoo, don’t feed them, they tend to leave me alone, for the most part.

What's it like living in Oregon? 

Oregon is great! There’s no other place (in the U.S.) I’d rather live.    

What project are you working on now?

I’m working on another collaboration project with an extremely talented graphic designer friend of mine, Andrew Nutini. His work is mind blowing, hyper-realistic and very gritty. The style of his imagery is something, I personally, have yet to see in a poetry book. We hope to have it finished and shopped around to publishers sometime this year. I’ve also been talking to James Decay about putting together a split chapbook. Hopefully we can make that happen soon. Lastly, I’m part of the 2018 Holy & Intoxicated broadside collection, which has a solid line-up of great poets involved this year, as usual.

Thanks, George. I appreciate you taking the time!

Thanks for the challenge, Scott!