David Wagoner

Hugo House:  In a few weeks you'll be debuting a brand-new piece at Hugo House-have you started working on it yet?

David Wagoner:  Yes, I've started working on it, but mostly in my head.
 
HH:  Can you give us a hint of how you're approaching the theme of "Love Is the Drug?" Literally? Figuratively? Prose? Poetry? Interpretive Dance? None of the Above?

DW:  I'm going to be looking at some of the problems facing a poet who tries to write love poems.  I'll be using poems of others and some of my own.
 
HH:  What were your first thoughts on receiving an invitation to write to an assigned theme? Any regrets on saying yes?

DW: My first thought was, “Oh, God, it's almost as hard to talk and think about it as it is to write it or experience it.”  But no regrets.

HH:  Could you tell us a little bit about your process-how you approach writing something new?

DW: I have approached the writing of poems from every direction I can think of.  But the best ones have come in this order:  random notes in prose or some lines, rough draft in which I try to discover voice and form, rewriting and often reordering, more revisions, abandonment.
 
HH:  Tell us 3 non-literary things we don't know about you.

DW: 1) I do sleight of  hand with cards. 2) The only photo I have on my work room wall currently is a signed photo of Houdini. 3) I think Ingmar Bergman's movie The Magician may be one of the best ones ever made.