A. POULIN, JR.
THE EXPERIENCE OF EXPERIENCE:
A CONVERSATION WITH JOHN ASHBERY
In November, 1972, John Ashbery, author of The Tennis Court
Oath, The Double Dream of Spring, and Three Poems, appeared
on the Brockport Writers Forum, reading from his works. Following the reading, Mr. Ashbery was interviewed by A. Poulin, Jr.,
of the Brockport English Department in a videotaped presentation.
His next book, Self Portrait in a Convex Mirror, received the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and the National Book Critics Circle Award. Since then, he has published Houseboat Days,
As We Know, and, most recently, Shadow Train.
POULIN: May we begin by discussing a particular poem of yours,
"Leaving the Atocha Station"?
ASHBERY: Let me read it:
The arctic honey blabbed over the report causing darkness
And pulling us out of there experiencing it
he meanwhile... And the fried bats they sell there
dropping from sticks, so that the menace of your prayer
folds...
Other people... flash
the garden are you boning
and defunct covering... Blind dog expressed
royalties...
comfort of your perfect tar grams nuclear world bank tulip
Favorable to near the night pin
loading formaldehyde. the table torn from you
Suddenly and we are close
Mouthing the root when you think
generator homes enjoy leered
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