ABP– Thank you for taking this interview, Adrian. Last summer, ABP was lucky to publish your chapbook ‘Lynchian’. What can you tell us about this collection? What was the writing process like on it?
AS- Lynchian is a project I’ve had in the back of my mind for a long time. I’ve been wildly interested in the work of David Lynch since I watched Twin Peaks as a late teen. The surreal, otherworldly imagery paired with things that are painstakingly “real life” in the way that he does is incredible. I wanted to try and capture that feeling in a poem. The process was a little faster compared to my other projects. Though this is a micro chapbook, every word was intentional and went through several round of edits with a group of writers am very grateful for. They know me and what I was going for and helped me get it to the finish line within just a few months.
ABP- Can you share an excerpt with us here?
AS- “My favorite part, I think, was their closing ritual.
Like the way a big family group hug cues the credits.
Daddy, Mommy, and Suzie Rabbit would sit all cozy
bumping knees in a little loveseat. They’d sit still
till the cheers were over, and when it was quiet enough
for all the grownups to lose interest, Mommy Rabbit
would reach past her side of the screen,
shush my mind and pat my little head goodnight.”
ABP- Which fiction author (alive or dead) do you think is most similar to Lynch, in their storytelling?
AS- Someone reading this may disagree with me, but my first instinct is to say Patricia Lockwood. Her latest book No One is Talking About This is genre-bending, full of unique phrasing while at the same time combing through grief and trying to figure out a life chronically online. Her poetry collection Motherland, Fatherland, and Homelandsexuals is better read for yourself rather than listening to me describe it. It’s a collection I return to very often.
ABP- What is your favorite book of all time?
AS- The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
ABP- Are you working on anything now? Do you plan on a new release in 2023
AS– I am! I’ve had a little collection in the works for awhile now about my time working for the post office, which is what I did right before the job I have now. It was a weird, weird time in a lot of ways and the best I can sort through it is through writing. My coworkers were characters more wacky than anything I could ever make up. I feel like people have this old-timey view of what the post office is like–maybe something a little Andy Griffith, and that is not the case. I am approaching it with truthful roots but with a surreal filter.
ABP– What is the art/lit scene like in Kentucky these days? Have there been any reading or exhibits in your area?
AS- The art scene in KY is very scattered. You can go to bigger towns like Louisville, Lexington, or Bowling Green and find much more than you can here in Elizabethtown. I know of a small writers group that meets regularly, but their genre and style don’t really align with mine. And the community college in town does a bookfest and sometimes hosts reading, but I know from experience that it is hard to get people to show up. When I was attending college there I helped start a creative writing club and the handful of us that were part of it traveled to Louisville for workshops or the Writer’s Block Festival. Louisville is about an hour away from me and the closest I am to an “active” scene.
ABP- Thank you again for taking this interview, Adrian. If there is anything else you would like to share, announce, promote, or anything else, please do.
AS-Thank you!! I am so honored to be published by ABP and be among this amazing catalog of other writers. I have another chapbook out from Bullshit Lit called “This Side of the Dirt” that I hope you all will check out! These books were published within just a few months of each other and I am just so excited to have my poems out in the world in these little books. I am so grateful for the support I have received and that is still coming. I love chaps, and I love indie presses. You can find me on instagram @adrianbreanna or Twitter @postalpoet.
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