Ask the Author(s): Elisa Gabbert and Kathleen Rooney
[Roxane Gay / March 9th, 2010 / Interviews ]Dynamic duo Elisa Gabbert and Kathleen Rooney’s poetry appears both in the February issue and PANK 4. They talk with J. Bradley about powers, tag team wrestling and forming a super group.
1. When you activate your Wonder Twin powers, what form would each of you take?
One of us would be an arctic fox, or maybe plasma. And the other would be a dolphin, or maybe a unicorn. Or better yet, a narwhal—best of both worlds.
2. If you were a tag team in the wrestling ring what would be your team finishing move? How would it look?
The Rhyming Snarky Pun! It would look fabulous.
3. When reading your work live, do each of you perform your parts or do you switch off on performing poems since you equally collaborate?
In our best poems, our joint voice achieves a level of synergy such that we forget which parts are whose. And we only read our best poems, so we just trade off from line to line and/or at the natural pauses.
4. What is your all-time favorite duet?
Probably “I’ve Had the Time of My Life” for associative reasons. Or possibly “Push It,” by Salt n’ Pepa for maximum hilarity.
5. Who would you form a super-literary rock band with?
We once planned to start our own rock band called Sorry About Your Daughter, but our lack of musical talent was a limiting factor (also, we’ve since discovered there’s already a band with that name). Our real skill likes in thinking of band names, not in forming actual bands.
Good interview. “Push it” is a great song to listen to when things get too stressful. Salt n Pepa got all the love for the song but that guy saying “aah, this is pushit” (best I can tell) deserved some too.
I too enjoy making up bands, despite having no musical abilities whatsoever.
Velvet Melancholy consists of two girls and two boys all called variations on Antoinette. They dress like 19th century aristocrats, and between songs they quote moody bits of Baudelaire. And they drink red wine, and all around the stage they have candles in empty wine bottles that tacky faux-Italian bistros always have on the table. And they only ever play when it rains, and if it doesn’t rain one night they wait around until it did (in Scotland you never have to wait too long before it rains).
Nothing On But The Radio is a punky girl band, but they only sing Nat King Cole and Chuck Berry and Otis Redding. They have pin-curled hair and pillarbox-red lipstick and super-tight strapless hourglass dresses. They look like 1950s housewives but scream and shout and throw themselves around the stage like the best girl rockstars in the world.
The Brouhaha all dress like lovely magician’s assistants. Lots of spandex and feathers and sequins. Except the drummer; drummers are always big and hairy, and spandex is not forgiving on hairy chests. He could just wear a cape, or something. Although, if he is drumming then a cape might get in the way. OK, scratch the cape thing, I’ll think of something else for the drummer to wear. Gosh, being in a band is hard work.
This is awesome, but I’d like to know more about how the poems were composed and edited, etc. Can somebody ask them about that, pretty please? I’m really interested in co-written literature lately.
I’ll ask them!
Mary,
They talk a lot about their process here – http://kenyonreview.org/blog/?p=8075. That’s why I avoided asking them. I’m really glad you enjoyed the interview.