“Passion is a road-trip you planned the night before.”
LInette Reeman
INTERVIEWED BY N!
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5/15/17
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Linette Reeman (they/them pronouns) is an Aries from the Jersey Shore, so they’re not sure what you mean by “speed limit."
A multiple Pushcart Prize and Bettering American Poetry Prize nominee, they are on the executive board for the Philadelphia Fuze Poetry Slam and attempting to finish their BA in History. In their free time, they occasionally sleep a full eight hours. You can dig their poems “Connotations For Being Buried Alive” & “Enter : A Body” in Fuck Art, Let’s Dance Issue #014. Below is an interview conducted May (2017) exploring a case study on love + their writing practice + caffeine dreams + the slam/poetry scene. |
Nostrovia! : "What does your writing practice look like?"
Linette Reeman : "Picture this : It’s 11PM on a Thursday night. Next to me sits a half-gallon of Wawa iced tea. There are 8 thousand tabs open on my laptop. Three of them are for the college assignment I’m supposed to be completing for class the next morning. All of the others are various Wikipedia articles on dead and (relatively) insignificant historical figures. Maybe one is just a YouTube loop of “Company” by Tinashe. Despite all this, the poem I am writing is about Being Trans™ and while all of my friends think it’s neat, none of the 11 publications I submit it to think it “fits” in their identity-suite. Wash hands; repeat until I graduate and/or disintegrate."
Linette Reeman : "Picture this : It’s 11PM on a Thursday night. Next to me sits a half-gallon of Wawa iced tea. There are 8 thousand tabs open on my laptop. Three of them are for the college assignment I’m supposed to be completing for class the next morning. All of the others are various Wikipedia articles on dead and (relatively) insignificant historical figures. Maybe one is just a YouTube loop of “Company” by Tinashe. Despite all this, the poem I am writing is about Being Trans™ and while all of my friends think it’s neat, none of the 11 publications I submit it to think it “fits” in their identity-suite. Wash hands; repeat until I graduate and/or disintegrate."
N! : “You're involved beyond page, stage, and publishing in a huge network of projects. Can you give us a low-down on what you've been involved with lately?”
LR : “Right now pre-orders for my book “When We Both Spoke In Alters: A Case Study On Love” (Rising Phoenix Press) are still happening, so that’s probably the most exciting thing I’ve got going on writing-wise currently, and my slam venue, the Philadelphia Fuze, just wrapped up our competition season, so the rest of the organizational board and I are looking forward to the rest of the summer’s features and open mics, and then I’m excited to start putting out feelers for features starting again in the fall.
In the past the Fuze has tried to feature local and national poets, and now that I’m part of the organizing crew, I’ve made it a point to book queer and trans/GNC poets, and I’m really proud of the people we’ve brought out so far. Also starting May 8 torrin a. greathouse and I are doing a mini SoCal tour!... which we’ve lovingly titled 'PWR CPPL,' as a play on the name of the queer band 'PWR BTTM.’”
LR : “Right now pre-orders for my book “When We Both Spoke In Alters: A Case Study On Love” (Rising Phoenix Press) are still happening, so that’s probably the most exciting thing I’ve got going on writing-wise currently, and my slam venue, the Philadelphia Fuze, just wrapped up our competition season, so the rest of the organizational board and I are looking forward to the rest of the summer’s features and open mics, and then I’m excited to start putting out feelers for features starting again in the fall.
In the past the Fuze has tried to feature local and national poets, and now that I’m part of the organizing crew, I’ve made it a point to book queer and trans/GNC poets, and I’m really proud of the people we’ve brought out so far. Also starting May 8 torrin a. greathouse and I are doing a mini SoCal tour!... which we’ve lovingly titled 'PWR CPPL,' as a play on the name of the queer band 'PWR BTTM.’”
N! : “Can you give us some insight on your case study?”
LR : “Love is just an emotion. It is amorphous and inhabits different forms and is defined differently by different situations and intentions. But also, Love shapes what it fills.
This book, while not explicitly stating it, travels through my five-year relationship with my ex-fiance and how trauma lived in too many places of my life for too long, and how I’m attempting to grow into my new self.”
LR : “Love is just an emotion. It is amorphous and inhabits different forms and is defined differently by different situations and intentions. But also, Love shapes what it fills.
This book, while not explicitly stating it, travels through my five-year relationship with my ex-fiance and how trauma lived in too many places of my life for too long, and how I’m attempting to grow into my new self.”
N! : “How much caffeine do you in-take & how do you balance the workload?”
LR : “I don’t even tell my doctor(s) how much caffeine I drink, that’s a trade secret.”
LR : “I don’t even tell my doctor(s) how much caffeine I drink, that’s a trade secret.”
N! : “What has been stealing your focus most lately?”
LR : “Something one of my partners said once, which is 'smash with one hand, build with the other;’ designs for DIY antifa stickers; the concept that 16th and 17th century piracy in the middle east and Asia led to shared technological resources and contributed to various economies more than anyone will ever give anarchists credit for; how now that I’ve gotten top surgery, I can invest in bralettes; how many times can I describe decapitation in individual poems before someone asks me about it in public?; etc.”
LR : “Something one of my partners said once, which is 'smash with one hand, build with the other;’ designs for DIY antifa stickers; the concept that 16th and 17th century piracy in the middle east and Asia led to shared technological resources and contributed to various economies more than anyone will ever give anarchists credit for; how now that I’ve gotten top surgery, I can invest in bralettes; how many times can I describe decapitation in individual poems before someone asks me about it in public?; etc.”
N! : “How did you end up entering the slam scene?”
LR : “Okay, this is truly a cute story about mini-Linette. When I was 17 and I got my provisional driver's license, my parents wouldn’t let me drive anywhere that was over 20 minutes away. The summer before I got it I’d participated in an ‘Art Walk’ my town held and had performed in a coffeeshop with someone who told us he did ‘slam poetry’ (that homie and I ended up being friends, obviously) at a place called ‘Loser Slam’ (as a Loser Slam alum/product, I am still infinitely proud of this being the first venue I represented). I assumed Loser Slam was farther away than my parents wanted me to travel, so I’d planned out this ridiculous fabrication to attend a show, but after some research, LO AND BEHOLD it turned out that their venue had just moved to somewhere that was *five* minutes away. The rest, they say, is [redacted]. But truly, it was the influence of the adults in my scene (MaryCae, Nicole Homer, Joshua J. Ballard) and the community they cultivated that made me keep coming back, and keep competing.”
LR : “Okay, this is truly a cute story about mini-Linette. When I was 17 and I got my provisional driver's license, my parents wouldn’t let me drive anywhere that was over 20 minutes away. The summer before I got it I’d participated in an ‘Art Walk’ my town held and had performed in a coffeeshop with someone who told us he did ‘slam poetry’ (that homie and I ended up being friends, obviously) at a place called ‘Loser Slam’ (as a Loser Slam alum/product, I am still infinitely proud of this being the first venue I represented). I assumed Loser Slam was farther away than my parents wanted me to travel, so I’d planned out this ridiculous fabrication to attend a show, but after some research, LO AND BEHOLD it turned out that their venue had just moved to somewhere that was *five* minutes away. The rest, they say, is [redacted]. But truly, it was the influence of the adults in my scene (MaryCae, Nicole Homer, Joshua J. Ballard) and the community they cultivated that made me keep coming back, and keep competing.”
N! : “Did ageism play a role in your navigating the adult slam scene? What about outside of slam and with publishing / poetry communities in-general?”
LR : “There is never a time I want to speak for a community as a whole. However, my like-aged peers and I are, frankly, very fucking sick of ‘old heads’ or ‘veterans’ of slam disrespecting our experiences and refusing to acknowledge the need to change language and praxis surrounding things like mental illness, transgender performers, etc.
I am doing this interview after M*rc Sm*th rudely and belligerently made fun of poets of color for being understandably emotional about their experiences at the 2017 CUPSI. While the majority of poets in the ‘national scene’ condemned the previously hailed ‘founder’ of slam, these are the same poets who occasionally, and yet consistently, show up to defend masc-presenting people who emotionally prey on femme-presenting people.
There have been almost no situations in slam, or in poetry in general, that I felt like my age was being used against me as a disadvantage, but there have been plenty of times I’ve felt uncomfortable around or been straight up harassed by people who were older than me in slam, and even more times I’ve heard the same infuriating stories from my friends.”
LR : “There is never a time I want to speak for a community as a whole. However, my like-aged peers and I are, frankly, very fucking sick of ‘old heads’ or ‘veterans’ of slam disrespecting our experiences and refusing to acknowledge the need to change language and praxis surrounding things like mental illness, transgender performers, etc.
I am doing this interview after M*rc Sm*th rudely and belligerently made fun of poets of color for being understandably emotional about their experiences at the 2017 CUPSI. While the majority of poets in the ‘national scene’ condemned the previously hailed ‘founder’ of slam, these are the same poets who occasionally, and yet consistently, show up to defend masc-presenting people who emotionally prey on femme-presenting people.
There have been almost no situations in slam, or in poetry in general, that I felt like my age was being used against me as a disadvantage, but there have been plenty of times I’ve felt uncomfortable around or been straight up harassed by people who were older than me in slam, and even more times I’ve heard the same infuriating stories from my friends.”
N! : “How have the scenes you're involved with affected your writing practice?”
LR : “So right now I live in South Jersey and I’m involved in the Philadelphia poetry scene. There’s a lot of really incredible poets I’ve met in Philly who have influenced how I approach my own work in context with the space I inhabit as a person with visible privilege (being white) and also visible marginalization (being trans).
Additionally, I’ve had the supreme joy of becoming friends and collaborators with poets whose work I admire, and that in turn has made me, straight up, just an objectively better writer and thinker. Some of these people are Kirwyn Sutherland, George Abraham, Julian David Randall, Lauren Yates, and Sean Aliño.
As someone who is part of the ‘national’ slam/poetry scene, I am humbled by the spaces I am asked to speak in. I am really grateful to have supportive communities everywhere I travel. I am also a sappy bitch and could go on forever about how I love my homies, but I’ll save that for when I individually go out for coffee with everyone who reads this interview.”
LR : “So right now I live in South Jersey and I’m involved in the Philadelphia poetry scene. There’s a lot of really incredible poets I’ve met in Philly who have influenced how I approach my own work in context with the space I inhabit as a person with visible privilege (being white) and also visible marginalization (being trans).
Additionally, I’ve had the supreme joy of becoming friends and collaborators with poets whose work I admire, and that in turn has made me, straight up, just an objectively better writer and thinker. Some of these people are Kirwyn Sutherland, George Abraham, Julian David Randall, Lauren Yates, and Sean Aliño.
As someone who is part of the ‘national’ slam/poetry scene, I am humbled by the spaces I am asked to speak in. I am really grateful to have supportive communities everywhere I travel. I am also a sappy bitch and could go on forever about how I love my homies, but I’ll save that for when I individually go out for coffee with everyone who reads this interview.”
N! : “You’re visibly and vocally trans in scenes that sometimes don't care. How have you gone about carving space for yourself to not only take the stage & be heard, but to feel safe?”
LR : “I’m still working on this, to be honest. I’ll say this though: it’s not up to the trans person to carve a space for themselves in a scene that is transphobic; rather, it is the responsibility of the scene to take spaces that are resistant to trans voices and plunge a (metaphorical) knife into that shit, you know?”
LR : “I’m still working on this, to be honest. I’ll say this though: it’s not up to the trans person to carve a space for themselves in a scene that is transphobic; rather, it is the responsibility of the scene to take spaces that are resistant to trans voices and plunge a (metaphorical) knife into that shit, you know?”
N! : “Much of your work incorporates using history as a vehicle for your writing. What kicked off your studies of the past?”
LR : “I’m almost (hopefully??? *crosses fingers*) done with a bachelor’s in History. I think as a kid I was into history because I read a buuunch of historical fiction (we didn’t have cable or household WiFi until I was halfway through high school and I can only re-read Harry Potter so many times, so I started reading biographies) and it just kinda bloomed from there. I am really interested in historical narratives. Like what drives the fact? What feeling or phrase or rumor started the marriage or riot or constitution? Etc.”
LR : “I’m almost (hopefully??? *crosses fingers*) done with a bachelor’s in History. I think as a kid I was into history because I read a buuunch of historical fiction (we didn’t have cable or household WiFi until I was halfway through high school and I can only re-read Harry Potter so many times, so I started reading biographies) and it just kinda bloomed from there. I am really interested in historical narratives. Like what drives the fact? What feeling or phrase or rumor started the marriage or riot or constitution? Etc.”
N! : “I dig the pieces in-which you have historical figures interact with you. If you wanted to recommend one or two to our readers, which pieces would you push?”
LR : “My dear homie Lydia Havens always tells people to read “Virginia Woolf Walks Into My Apartment,” so I will tell y’all to read that for their sake. I’m also really proud of “Ten Things You Didn’t Know About Decapitation,” which was published in (b)OINK zine’s inaugural issue. Also, I’ve realized recently that I write a lot about decapitation and I promise you definitely should not read too much into it.”
LR : “My dear homie Lydia Havens always tells people to read “Virginia Woolf Walks Into My Apartment,” so I will tell y’all to read that for their sake. I’m also really proud of “Ten Things You Didn’t Know About Decapitation,” which was published in (b)OINK zine’s inaugural issue. Also, I’ve realized recently that I write a lot about decapitation and I promise you definitely should not read too much into it.”
N! : “Any homies you want to shout out?”
LR : “Besides people I’ve already shouted out, Alain Ginsberg (they/them, based in Baltimore) and Noor B. Jaber (he/they, based in Philadelphia) are both trans poets making really wrenching and purposeful work that is also strong in its tenderness. I’m grateful that they’re both close homies of mine, and I love watching them grow and create work I’m in jealous awe of. So yeah, they’d be some good peeps to check out.”
LR : “Besides people I’ve already shouted out, Alain Ginsberg (they/them, based in Baltimore) and Noor B. Jaber (he/they, based in Philadelphia) are both trans poets making really wrenching and purposeful work that is also strong in its tenderness. I’m grateful that they’re both close homies of mine, and I love watching them grow and create work I’m in jealous awe of. So yeah, they’d be some good peeps to check out.”
- Oi ! Dig more of Linette’s poetry + a coagulation of other dope writers coming together under F.A.L.D. Issue #014 <3
- & pre-orders are still rolling for their collection too! You can snag a copy at Rising Phoenix Press--cheers!