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Looking back on it, it seems like an incredible risk in 1965. At the time, Los Angeles-native John Martin, a manager of a large office supply store, decided he would dedicate one-quarter of his monthly income in perpetuity to a relatively obscure writer with a penchant for drinking. But Martin, as it would turn out, bet on the right horse. His deal with L.A. poet, novelist and short story writer, Charles Bukowski, would end up making history—and the both of them hundreds of thousands of dollars, too. Bukowski, known as the poet of skid row, wrote poetry books like Love is a Dog From Hell and novels like Ham On Rye and Women. Together, he and Martin helped to change modern American writing, bringing poetry and prose to a street level where they could be read and enjoyed by the “common reader.”

Martin, born in 1930, is now retired from the publishing house he founded, Black Sparrow. He has sold the rights to Bukowski’s work and the work of a few other authors to ECCO, a subsidiary of Harper Collins. Black Sparrow, in its modern form, continues to exist, publishing work, though it’s stewarded by new publishers and editors. We caught up with Martin to talk with him about his early love of literature, his $100 deal with Bukowski, “insiders” versus “outsiders,” his other favorite authors and much more.

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At a glance, the award-winning poet, Richard Kenney, can seem like a book hard to crack. His prowess with language, his oratory muscles, his years nose-buried in highfalutin tomes—all of these might suggest a question-and-answer interview would prove more mind-boggling than equal-footed back-and-forth. However, in reality, Kenney is a warm chap, as willing to explain an idea at length as he is to sit quietly over a cup of tea and ponder whatever words linger in the grey area between the conscious and unconscious. A world-class writer, Kenney is, perhaps above all else, a teacher, a guide. In this way, he embodies the literature that he’s fallen in love with. At its best, he’ll tell you, literature is a way to learn how to be. And in Kenney’s presence, that road map is laid out on the table, compass beside it.

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Northwest writer Sierra Golden composes bare-knuckle poetry. Reading Golden, who was born in Alaska and spent summers fishing commercially, is like pulling up galoshes, throwing on a coat and preparing for a back alley brawl with the elements. Hers is a keen eye for worn things and linguistic gut punches. With her astonishing collection, The Slow Art, in tow, Golden has proven her poetic prowess through storytelling and unique details, which is exactly why we wanted to catch up with the author and talk with her about what she learned living on boats for months, how fishing informed her physicality, and if she ever felt in danger at sea. 

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Michelle Peñaloza, who was born in the suburbs of Detroit, grew up in Nashville, lived in Seattle, and now resides in rural California, offers rich, lush poetry packed to the margins with stories of her father and mother, tear-inducing fights with lovers and bouts grappling with self-doubt. Maneuvering through rivers of anger with an ability to turn a masterful phrase, Peñaloza has written a new collection of poetry, Former Possessions of the Spanish Empire, which won the 2018 Hillary Gravendyk National Prize, and will be published by Inlandia Institute in the fall of 2019. To celebrate the publication, I caught up with Peñaloza to ask about her family, her relationship to anger, and how she fell in love with the written word.

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Seattle poet E. J. Koh writes with both a delicate and brutal hand. Whether staring into the eyes of a loved one or a murderer, her work is unblinking. Her poems mine dichotomies in homes and languages, shedding light on her own difficult childhood, during which she was separated from her parents for nine years. Koh, who didn’t speak until almost five years old, now wins awards for her poetry and adoration for her translations. A Korean-American, Koh grew up with immigrant parents and when she talks about her history, she does so with a voice saturated in reflection and interpretations. We wanted to catch up with the author to talk about her recent collection, A Lesser Love (Pleiades Press, 2017), to see what she’s working on now and to glean a few insights into her illustrious creative process.

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It’s not often you meet someone who is both poet and podcast host, but that’s exactly what you get when you encounter the loquacious writer and Portland, Oregon resident, Ed Skoog. Thoughtful and meticulous with his words, Skoog—who grew up in Kansas and has spent time in Montana and the Northwest—muses on friendship, conversation, death and rebuilding without much prompting. His most recent books of poetry, Rough Day and Run The Red Lights, showcase strength and facility with language while differing drastically from one another in tone, presentation, and form. Skoog is currently at work on his next book, Travelers Leaving for the City, which he describes as “a book-length poem about arrivals and departures, centered around my grandfather’s murder in 1955.” Skoog, who continues to co-host his podcast with John Robert Lennon, Lunch Box with Ed and John, chatted with us about his inspirations, his thoughts of home, and how Hurricane Katrina showed him poetry is essential for rebuilding a city.

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Jane Wong, the exceptional Emerald City poet, now lives and works in Bellingham as an Assistant Professor at Western Washington University. The daughter of Chinese immigrants, Wong graduated from the University of Iowa’s MFA program in poetry, and then earned a PhD from the University of Washington. Recently, Wong was also awarded a prestigious Washington State award. But perhaps more than anything it was the restaurant her parents owned and operated in New Jersey that shaped her career. We wanted to catch up with Wong—whose poem “Aphoristic” appeared on our website, and whose first collection, Overpour, was reviewed here by Dandi Meng—to talk with her about her recent award, how her past has shaped her present, and how she moves forward through a challenging and often dark world.

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