Jason Pettus is a writer, designer, and chef based out of Chicago.
He contacted me wondering about the city of Cochem in Germany,
I had posted some stuff about
my recent stay there, and he had been invited by some European admirers to go on
a writing/reading tour in that area.
He's a hell of a good writer, one of those guys where I scratch my head
and say "I wish I could write like that". You can see more by Jason at his website--
and even support him on his trip to Germany...
he leaves in a few days!
Two out of every three stories I've ever written have been
about romance. I just find it to be an endlessly fascinating subject to
write about: the surreal beginnings of relationships, the cliched endings,
the infinite middles in between. It wasn't difficult for me to choose eight
of my favorite pieces about romance; they span from the very beginning of my
literary career all the way up to a few months ago. For this special
mini-feature, I thought I would also write introductions to the pieces,
explaining where I was at those points in my life that made me want to write
those particular poems and stories. My thanks to Kirk for allowing me to
present this mix tape of sorts here at his website for the first
time.
One of the very first stories I ever wrote, back in 1996. Gets
mistaken a lot for a true story, when in fact the story is completely
fictional. Seems to really affect a certain amount of people at my live
shows.
A
formal poem, written in a style of my own invention called the "Jasonette,"
involving a lot of math and rhyming and lettering schemes. This particular
poem is about a woman I briefly dated in spring of 1997. Sigh...my little
indie-rock queen.
A sweet, happy little love story, loosely based on a true event
from early 1998. This one always makes me smile and feel wistful at the same
time.
An early audience
favorite from my poetry slam days (more specifically, winter 1998). The
"We've been having sex sporadically for two years now and we should really
come to a resolution about it all" poem. Don't all goddamn poets have one of
these?
Written for a special
invitation-only show at Quimby's Bookstore here in Chicago, sponsored by the
literary e-magazine fengi.com. The idea was for all of us to write about the
worst breakup we ever had. 85 percent of this story is true, although the
events are culled from many stories concerning a dozen different
ex-girlfriends of mine over the years, added together into one sexy,
neurotic mess.
A sad poem, written after
living through a sad experience, winter 1999. Strangely, this is one of the
most autobiographical poems I've ever written, although most people think
it's fiction or even fantasy. Always makes me cry when I perform it
aloud.
Written for the
old literary journal Open Letters, although then rejected by them. I still
think it's a good story, damnit. Funnily enough, another true story that
people think is made up. I have an ongoing weird relationship with this
woman, and I'm sure future events will inspire future stories.
Written
for another Quimby's/Fengi invitation-only show, this time with the theme
"Snowmen." There's a lot of men out there who seem to be touched by this
one; at least, I get a lot of email from men saying, "Man, I knew a woman
just like this. You've just made me understand their actions better than
I've understood them in years." That's always pleasant to hear. Following
the trend of the rest of these, this is another made-up story that a lot of
people think is true.
|
