Mark Sonnenfeld,
resident experimental poet,
Comes Clean

I was surprised and shocked at the results of this interview. I found out things that I hadn't expected from the answers to the following interview questions.

I would spill the beans on what I think I've learned about Mark as a person, but I'm not sure that that's my role here. After all, my original goal was to explore Mark as an artist (which is what is shown pretty clearly in his given answers).

So, here it is, naked as the day it was born, the Mark Sonnenfeld interview:

 1. In reading your recent press clippings, I've noticed that you say often don't know what your poems are about. That you just open yourself up to the words and let them flow in. If that's the case, do you sometimes revisit the poems and realize what they mean later?

True, my writing process is very free. And each piece I write has a specific meaning, to me at least. I do little re-reading, but when I do, the image I get, I call it a sister-image, often comes through. It's like re-watching a movie and discovering things you hadn't noticed the first time. Also, it can be like getting lost on the road, and finding a new way home.

2. Do you memorize your poems? Ever?

I do not intentionally memorize. If I do, it comes from habit. I'd bet there are 10 or so poems burned on my brain. They are favorites of mine I include on spoken-word tapes and do at readings.

3. You've spent a lot of time (and money) marketing your work through direct mail, as well as through live performances. Do you think you'll ever actively market your work via the Internet?

www.experimentalpoet.com is my web site address, and Barnes & Noble.com is carrying 16 of my chapbook titles. But that's where it stops. I prefer traditional publishing to electronic. I suppose that comes from an appreciation of the paper, the paper's color, the paper's texture, etc. Touching a text does have advantages. It's more personal, I think.

4. What is your long-term goal with poetry?

To actively do it. To write, publish, collaborate and artistically evolve. To be recognized as an innovator and as a connector. To have my writing stimulate thinking. Even to be controversial.

5. In your press materials, it says that you switched from playing and composing music to composing and performing poetry. Are you satisfied with it still or do you think that you may eventually turn to another medium (like painting, for instance) to express yourself?

I am more than satisfied I made the switch from music to writing. I did dabble with watercolor painting once, but found it to be too much work. Writing is fun. I find it easy to express myself this way. Language and the treatment of words as if they were vanguard jazz notes opens things up. The avant-garde mindset definitely suits me.

6. Is poetry just as fulfilling to you as it was when you started writing?

Definitely yes.

7. Have you found more satisfaction doing collaborative work (with other poets and visual artists) than you did publishing your work singly? Why?

Bringing others into the mix enriches the project. So, I'd have to answer by saying collaborative projects give more satisfaction. Also, I get a good feeling knowing that because of a collaboration, person x in England now knows person y in California. I still now and then like to throw out a Sonnenfeld-only work. It makes me feel good I can do that, when I want. Self-publishing allows for a lot of artistic freedom.

8. How does your wife, Mary, feel about your work? Which poem (or book) would she say is her favorite? Why?

Mary, whose name is actually Maryann, is proud of the work I put out. I really don't think she has a favorite. I'm guessing her favorite would be whatever happens to be the latest release. The latest release is usually my favorite. Again I'm guessing, that she might pick up on my high feelings at the time.

9. What does your wife do creatively (beside photograph you)? Do you bounce poem ideas off of her when you're writing?

My writing and Marymark Press direction ideas are all done solo by me. Maryann has photographed me countless times, and that's a big help. Several times newspapers had decided to run an article on me and said they needed a photograph the very next day to meet their deadline. We'd quickly run out, buy a disposable camera, take some shots, wait the one-hour for development and then throw one in the evening's mail. We make a good team.

10. What's going on with you now?

Right now, this interview, which I'm enjoying doing. Also, I have lots of new releases on the launch pad. Between now and the end of August, I plan to have out 2 chapbooks, 2 broadsides, and 2 writing samplers—all of these involving writers and artists from Indiana, Michigan, Newtownabbey (Northern Ireland), Montreal, Iowa, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. Also due out are 2 new spoken-word tapes one recorded out and about on the streets of New York City, the other to be an at-home read of broadsides to a taped background-mix of German dialogue. My inclusion in the Poet's Market 2000 gets me a lot of mail from new contacts, so opportunities are always popping up. I am a strong believer in ‘making things happen.'

11. What's next for you?

To keep going with the writing, and to see where it takes me.

--By the way, the other questions include:

1) Favorite food?
Chicken pot pie in the winder. Fresh blueberries in atop cold cereal in the summer.

2) First kiss?
7th grade (a little late, I know)

3) First poem written?
The Warehouse (1991)

4) In general, what would make you happy?
Happiness is an illusion. Sadness is an illusion too. Life is the biggest illusion.

5) What do you like most about yourself?
Being an experimental writer with a direction.

6) What's your weakness?
Watching television. I get sucked in. It's best I don't watch any.

7) What would you do with a million dollars in lottery winnings?
Buy nothing tangible. Live like a monk. Travel extensively.