brian ang, writer, editor of armed cell, lets plain wrap get to know him better. this is the fifty-fourth installment of plain wrap’s interview series in which plain wrap interviews all its facebook friends. thank you, brian ang.
1. Tell us about yourself?
1. I work as hard as possible on poetry because it’s the most exciting and liberating activity to me, for fundamentally being of the communal material of language. My interpretation of working on poetry means doing political activities because politics has the highest stakes and is an intense site of excitement and liberation. I’m interested in avant-garde arts, philosophy, and theory for being exemplars and amplifiers of those characteristics. I edit a poetry journal called ARMED CELL in Oakland, California.
2. Have you read any good books lately?
2. I wrote about eleven favorite books in 2011 on the latest annual Attention Span project, run by the poetry critic Steve Evans.
3. Why did you leave your last job?
3. Precariousness. Work is generally at best a waste of time, at worst immiserating, and of course forced.
4. What have you done to improve your knowledge in the last year?
4. I continually assess priorities of projects to get the energy and confidence together to give the most urgent ones my best shot, and do them publically to find people to have meaningful relationships with. Projects include delivering readings and presentations, hosting events, participating in political activities, publishing, travelling, and writing in many modes, including poetry, political theory, and criticism. These projects and relationships have been the greatest improvers of my knowledge because of their intensities of labor.
5. Tell us about the most fun you have had in life?
5. I’m having the most fun now. All the projects I’ve done permanently and continually enrich my life. Because of that I’m not interested in dwelling on them, I’m only interested in doing more projects.
