I Remember & Shane Allison

Posted By jatyler - 23rd January 2012

MB: First things first, I Remember (recently released from Future Tense Books) is built upon a static structure – each segment preceded by ‘I remember’ – creating a vibrant and consistent rhythm throughout the book. Yannick Murphy, our last interviewee here on Monkeybicycle, recently released a novel The Call which is also built upon a rhythmic structure where each section of the book responds to a particular ‘call’. And though we learn from the jacket copy that I Remember was inspired by Joe Brainard’s I Remember, what else drew you to this kind of overall approach to a full-length title, what brought you to force yourself into this Oulipo kind of move?

SA: Well, I didn’t know Joe Brainard ever existed before I took a poetry workshop with David Trinidad back when I was a student at the New School. He was the one who introduced me to Brainard’s I Remember. I really have to thank him for that because I don’t think my book would be out there now without learning of Brainard and how he influenced New York School poets. When I opened the first page of I Remember that did it for me. I fell in love with the book, the form, and his ability to take the genre of memoir and turn it on its ear. So when I got the class assignment to write out my own memories, I jumped at the opportunity. What was only supposed to be a page or two, turned out to be 60 pages of my own thoughts and memories. The process is and continues to be very therapeutic for me. I don’t think I will ever stop doing this. I wouldn’t say that I’m obsessed with I Remembers. I find myself giving it a break, but always coming back to it, each time bigger than before.

MB: I Remember also plays very heavily on pop culture references of the 70’s and 80’s, and so as I laughed at mentions of Pop Rocks and The Jetsons and Bugle Boy jeans, I wondered how this book might be received by someone who was born much earlier, or much later – what will those readers find in this book? Also, say, in 25 years, or 50 even, how do you think the cultural relevance of I Remember will have shifted, and how might it be received and/or read?

SA: When I initially read Brainard’s book, I was a little concerned that I wouldn’t be able to identify with some of his memories being that much of it was before I was ever a thought, but that’s what’s so great too. His book, as well as mine, acts as a history lesson in popular culture. What you can’t identify with, you can respect and find yourself saying, “Oh wow, I remember that happening, or ‘I can’t believe he went through that and lived to tell about it here.” I hope to do the same thing with my book. It’s not just a book in which the readers read about short moments that happened to me, but something where you have bouts of nostalgia. As I continue to write up more of these, I find that one memory triggers another and another and so on. Something as simple as a flower can trigger memories you thought were long buried in your mind.

MB: Another aspect of I Remember that constantly caught my attention was how many specific names and situations from your own personal narrative you divulge. Are these at all changed to ‘protect the innocent’ as they say, or are they rendered exactly as you remember them? And, in terms of this kind of very personal writing, was there any worry, prior to the book’s publication, about upsetting people who are also a part of these remembrances?

SA: In regards to the people I mention, I tried to stay on a first name basis, but many of these people  that I know or have known are friends of mine, so they get what I’m doing and understand that they impacted my life largely.

MB: I was really curious as well about how the book was composed both during the writing process as well as the editing rounds and final ordering with Kevin Sampsell and Bryan Coffelt at Future Tense. First, can you talk with us a little about how you wrote the book – how many of these remembrances were written per day, how much editing was done on each, how much did you restructure or reshape each segment as you wrote?

SA: Well, I had already had 60 pages of material and gradually worked on the manuscript as months and years went on, collecting it all in notebooks and journals and sometimes finding myself remembering things when I wasn’t always at my desk so I would jot things down on napkins, even my hand at times. Kevin was instrumental in making sure that the book was as tight as possible with the best lines. He wanted me to talk more about those that weren’t so quite clear and that forced me to delve deeper into a particular memory. I’m learning to do that with the new material. We both went through a few edits of the book to get it where we both wanted. As for the cover: I really did have this image of me being very young. I thought it would suit the theme perfectly and Bryan turned my idea into reality, which I love.

MB: And in this same vein, when it came time to editing, how did the manuscript re-shape or evolve as you worked towards publication, or is the final ordering and layout of I Remember ordered and structured as you wrote it? For instance, there are several repeats of certain remembrances in the book, and I wondered if this happened during the writing or the editing or both, and what kind of importance those moments then play in the overall narrative thread?

SA: As a writer, I don’t think the editing process ever stops. I think it’s always this ongoing process. There’s nothing in the book that I wish I had have left out. With something like this, I had to decide early on how honest I wanted to be and what I wanted to put out there. You either go big or go home. I wasn’t interested in sugar-coating anything. There are some lines like the more erotic memories that I kind of both cringe and laugh at, but I’m glad I put them in the book. With this it’s all about the good, the bad, the ugly and the embarrassing in one book. I can’t be afraid of being judged. At the end of the day none of that shit matters. Other than the deletion of a few memories, the book was published in the same way I recorded my memories. I wrote what came to me. Memories don’t get filed away in one’s mind alphabetically.

MB: If readers dig I Remember (which they will) and they want to read more from you (which they should) which of your books would you direct them to next, and why?

SA: I have a poetry collection that came out last year called Slut Machine from Rebel Satori Press. It’s a book that had been a longtime coming and I am just as proud of it as I am of I Remember, so check it out as well as the plethora of poems I have online. I also write short stories and edit erotica for Cleis Press, which I quite enjoy, but I’m the type who always tries to move the line. I am gradually moving into novel writing. I am at work on a YA novel as well as a new collection and I’m moving into the next chapter of ‘I Remember’ material for a new book perhaps.

MB: And if readers of this interview haven’t bought themselves a copy of I Remember yet, what do you think their problem is?

SA: I don’t know too many people out here that don’t like me. J Even if you don’t, check out this book anyway. It’s the only book you will ever need if you’re thinking of blackmailing me.

Purchase a copy of I Remember here.