Paul Corman-Roberts
Paul Corman-Roberts is a poet and performer out in Oakland, California. He is the poetry editor at Cherry Bleeds and his recent poetry collection (neocom)muter is out now from Tainted Coffee Press. Interview by Lynn Alexander.
LA:When was the first time you can remember calling yourself a writer, describing yourself that way? When did you start writing poetry?
PCR: I probably first described myself as a writer when I was drunk and trying to impress a girl at a party or something. I do remember getting kind of snotty and elitist about it around the time I started working at the New College of California just before 9/11. I got sick of everyone calling me a poet so I started referring to myself as a writer. Of course, everyone totally made fun of me after I started doing that.
I didn’t really start thinking of myself as an actual poet until quite recently, probably around the time I published my first book Coming World/Gone World (Howling Dog Press) in 2006. But I really did start writing poetry in 1989 for the sole purpose of trying to impress girls, while I was burning to be a tortured playwright, or filmmaker, or sketch comedy writer. When I got tired and burnt out on all that shit, and tired of impressing only girls with poetry, I found I still wanted to write poems for myself. Continue Reading…