INTERVIEWS
BOOKWORM with Michael Silverblatt on KCRW
Michael Silverblatt and I talk about how starting a novel is an invocation but you don't know what will be invoked. He calls the book a dark meditation on childhood where events are heightened into a new key signature and we discuss the crucial role women play in the novel.
OTHER PEOPLE with BRAD LISTI podcast
Topics include: Growing up in Aruba, hunting for sharks with cars, Don DeLillo, death by social media, and not feeling guilty about not reading Jonathan Franzen.
CHARLOTTE TALKS interview on NPR station WFAE
Interviewed as part of a local author roundtable. Topics include my writing process and road to publication. Host refers to me as "a strange man." Lots of stuff about dolphins, too.
"Snakes Whose Skins Refuse to be Shed" - TIN HOUSE
Andrew Ervin and I discuss why prose style is political, who would direct the movie version of Mira Corpora, the genius of Wallace Shawn, and the difference between the Jeff Jackson in the book and me.
"The Original Narrator No Longer Exists" - HTMLGIANT
Michael Kimball and I talk about the different ways to read Mira Corpora, how playwriting informed my process, the many drafts and different versions of the novel, and how the narrator eventually earned the right to my name.
"Chance Operations, Literary Specificity and La Monte Young" - VOL. 1 BROOKLYN
Tobias Carroll and I discuss the mechanics of writing and presenting my play Dream of the Red Chamber: performance for a sleeping audience in Times Square, the role of place in Mira Corpora, how moving out of New York City was helpful, and lots more.
"His Life Was Saved by Rock and Roll" - ELECTRIC LITERATURE
Deirdre Sugiuchi and I discover a mutual interest in cults and punk rock and discuss why empathy has to be earned. I talk about the totemic power of cassettes and what I learned about writing characters from theater.
"A Quick Interview with Jeff Jackson" - AMPERSAND REVIEW
Corey Zeller and I talk about the one small thing I'd change about the novel, what a book is worth in terms of experiences from real life, and the uselessness of all advice.
"Book Notes" - LARGEHEARTED BOY
I created a music playlist of some favorite tunes that evoked various parts of the writing process for me. Rare sides by PJ Harvey, Terry Riley, Young Marble Giants, Andrew Hill, Alex Chilton, etc.
"January Mix: How to Conjure an Endless Night" - ELECTRIC LITERATURE
A Spotify mix inspired by Mira Corpora, designed to help you summon a darkness of your own making. So you can dream its dreams. Luxuriate in its rhythms. Tunes by Blind Willie Johnson, Brian Eno, Nico, Miles Davis, DJ Screw, Big Youth, Broadcast, Sonny Sharrock, and a reggae version of Erik Satie.
"Appetite for Destruction" - CREATIVE LOAFING
I tell John Schacht why I find most contemporary literature to be a sham, the influence of punk rock, and why sometimes the only positive way to move forward is to first destroy the situation you're in.
"Turning Everything Inside Out" - THE FANZINE
Thomas Moore asks me about earliest memories, artistic influences, hypnogogic states, sensual prose, and feeling kinship with the works of Dennis Cooper, Harmony Korine, Sleater-Kinney, and more.
"Hallucinatory Realism" - CREATIVE LOAFING ATLANTA
Wyatt Williams asks me about the journals that inspired the novel, the difference between writing for the page and the stage, and what's next.
"Interview" - ERIC OBENAUF
We discuss why many TV shows are better made and more entertaining than the average bestselling novel, anti-coming of age stories, and more.
"Interview" - FAB OVERSIGHT
Molly Wilbanks and I talk about the origin of the novel's title, why I cut up copies of the book to make collages, and inspiration.
"Charlotte Writer Makes the Obscure Inviting" - CHARLOTTE OBSERVER
Larry Toppman asks me about the common link between my fiction, theater work, and film programming at the NODA Film Festival. I reveal my stolen motto: "Elite art for the masses."
"Jeff Jackson Recommends...." - POETS & WRITERS
I write about finding inspiration in photography when the words start to flag.
"The AHA Moment!" - POETS & WRITERS
Preview of Mira Corpora and discussion of the pitch letter that landed me an agent. July/Aug 2013 issue.