Kevin Smokler Interview

MF: What was your original motivation for putting together a collection like "Bookmark Now?"

KS: Started as an assertion that members of my generation read actively and were not simply drugging themselves with video games and the internet. But there were more issues in this debate than I felt I could address my, an anthology of dissonant voices seemed like the perfect solution. It's purpose morphed several times over the the 2 years it took to write, especially in light of the NEA's "Reading at Risk" report and I think we have a better book for it.

MF: In the introduction to your collection, you bring up the NEA's 2004 Reading at Risk report and then go on to admonish publishing companies as partially to blame for the decline in reading. How are the publishing companies at fault and what suggestions do you have for their improvement?

KS: 1) Be not affraid of technology. I still have to convince writers and publishers that every author and every book needs their own website. If a book does not have its own presence online, in 2005, it may as well not exist.

2) Think creatively. If the publishing business applied even 10% of the creative energy the advertising world puts toward selling soap, book would be as necessary as soap.

3) Emphasize the fun: No one will read if books are "good for you" but no fun, if they are broccoli instead of chocolate. I think reading, writing, literature is sexy. How hard would it be to put that foot forward and not lose credibility? Easy.

4) Learn what you don't know. If you're seeing an article about podcasting every third day and don't know what it is, don't plug your ears and pretend it'll go away. Invite a podcaster to lunch and have them explain.

MF: You cite Hip-Hop as one of the social trends currently igniting the imagination. What is Hip Hop Literature?

KS: Literature inspired by and from the generation raised with hip-hop culture. I think it's fair to call Paul Beatty, Toure, Victor Lavalle, Danyel Smith and much of the Spoken Word moment hip-hop lit. I'd also just call it lit.

MF: Christian Bauman opens "Bookmark Now" with a unique account about how he came to reading and then goes on to state that ninety percent of what makes a writer is reading, that in fact, he could cease writing completely and continuing reading would make him a better writer. Do you believe that?

KS: Yes I do. I think writing is a craft and you learn from observing the masters then deciding what of theirs you'll keep and what you'll throw away.

MF: Bauman also touts his lack of formal education, pointing out that he didn't need professors to tell him that the work of Raymond Carver or Annie Proulx was brilliant. Yet, people like you and I put an awful lot of energy into criticizing, reviewing, and recommending books. How do you see this work? Are we just "dancing about architecture?"

KS: Nope, we're performing a public service. The biggest reason I hear people don't read is "No Time." The second is they have no idea what is good to read. Talking about, critiquing, reviewing books creates a cultural of dialogue about literature that a reader can dip into as deep or shallow as they like. it allows them, in the cacaphonous 21st century to develop their own literary panel of experts.

MF: Pamela Ribon, in her essay "Look the Part" describes her growth as a writer through the internet and www.pamie.com . Can you tell us about your initial forays into writing and the web?

KS: Pamie and early online diary culture was a huge inspiration for me which is why I wanted to include her. I met her at South by Southwest (the web's Mardi Gras) in 1999. In 2000 all talk was about blogs and, since I had just moved to San Francisco and was unemployed, I started one. I befriended other bloggers, went to conferences and became fascinated by the medium potential. It's a story I've been following for 5 years now and it's still being told.