Mark Spitzer, writer and translator, works as assistant editor for the online publication, Exquisite Corpse, founded by writer and NPR radio commentator Andrei Codrescu. Corpse, a print magazine for fourteen years, went exclusively online in 1997 and is noted for its avant-garde style, subject matter and surreal approach. Mr. Spitzer recently published his second novel, Chum (Zoland Books), and currently lives in Louisiana with the alligators and the gars where he writes fiction and translates the works of French criminals and misanthropes.

Standaert: How did you get into writing, and where do you see yourself now?

Spitzer: I started publishing poetry a decade ago in the obscure small press journals of American underground lit, and worked my way up the ladder. One thing I did while doing this was to move to Paris and work at the infamous bookstore, Shakespeare and Company. This provided for years of crazy experiences plus run-ins with some big-time writers, while getting some serious translating done. Meanwhile in the States, Andrei Codrescu published a story of mine what was considered slander by many. This was back in 1995, and it got me a whole lot of attention by raising a whole lot of hackles. When I came down to the swamps a few years later, I ended up taking some classes with Andrei, which led to many a late nights boozing and carrying on. Andrei and I were on the same page, which led to my position at The Corpse. It couldn’t have worked out any better.

Standaert: Since this issue of Critique is ‘On Writing’, could you go into some of your daily habits? How about advice to younger writers, especially those who work outside of the norm?

Spitzer: I write every single morning while drinking coffee. It used to be I’d listen to some tape over and over again, but now I just like it quiet. Usually, I work on a novel for a bunch of months, then I switch to a translation project, then back again. I go to The Corpse Headquarters in the afternoon, get on the e-mail, read submissions, edit various things, stuff like that. Then I go home to my cats and my gal Robin and we eat roast beef.

For writers who are doing work outside the mainstream tastes, I’d point them to the Hot Links section in The Corpse. These links go to a bunch of different websites, many which publish or support avant-garde and/or weirdly twisted mentalities. Besides offering hours of intriguing reading and examples of cutting edge poetics in action, these sites can lead you to publishing opportunities outside the norm.

My advice to younger writers is the same as my advice to any writer: Don’t be boring! And do this in your very first line. There’s too much stuff out there imitating popular trends, and trying to fit in by remaining unobtrusive, or realistic, or poetic in that it goes for the heartstrings. This stuff is the enemy of writing that knows how to suck a reader in and keep a reader in. We should really pay more attention to whether or not the first line is anything special. Then they should examine their second line. And so on. As an editor, I usually give a poem a stanza to impress me, or a story a paragraph, and if nothing happens in the next twenty seconds, it goes straight into the Cyberbag (which is a column I write in The Corpse, consisting mainly of submitters who didn’t make the cut). I’m looking for something that sticks out, either style-wise or context-wise or both, something with attitude, something with guts, something that’s sexy even if it doesn’t concern the subject of sex. Sometimes I find works of genius, but I’ll settle for intelligent and honest with a sharp sense of irony. Personally, I don’t understand why people just don’t create manifestos and masterpieces from the get go. Go balls out, that’s what I say.

Standaert: Can you go into some of the writers that have influenced you, and anyone out there now that inspires you?

Spitzer: I used to be highly influenced by Louis-Ferdinand Celine, but it’s hard to go waving that flag. Even at his best, he’s a dark, dark soul, but man whatta stylist! Edward Abby is important to me politically, but Bukowski always keeps me entertained. Lately, I’ve been enjoying Dan Fante’s work. He’s the son of John Fante, also one hell of a writer. Though I’m proud to say, however, that I’ve been totally cured of all forms of hero-worship.

Standaert: What do you think about the proliferation of fiction and poetry webzines? Are they getting more attention as legit publications in the literary world, taken seriously, or not? What are their benefits and downfalls, as you see it, having worked at The Corpse?

Spitzer: Though I work for an online journal, I’m not that familiar with the other webzines out there. Still, I know they’re out there and I’ve seen a few and I know the population is growing. At first, I was skeptical about this new trend, as anyone who’s ever valued paper publications, but now there is really nothing you can do about liking or not liking online publications. You either except them or reject them, and since they’re becoming more and more of a legitimate form of publication, which people are listing on resumes and citing in bibliographies, and using to attain tenure–I figure you’re limiting yourself if you avoid them. Also, webzines are highly accessible, they’re usually free, you can view a lot of vivid artwork, some have sound and flash movies, and there is an ever growing audience and contributorship on the web which is really starting to make the Internet more avant-garde than anyone ever expected it to be. Small webzines like Thundersandwich.com are now giving the writers of the small press world more exposure than they have ever had, while filling a necessary void. And larger sites like Jackmagazine.com are showcasing some really interesting stuff. Basically, fiction and poetry has to be online these days, or else it falls behind.

As for the advantages of publishing online, you can reach a lot more people. Also, when somebody does a search on you at Yahoo or Google, they’re led directly to your work, and as long as the server supplying that work remains up, your work will be immortal–or at least easily locatable.

The pitfalls of publishing online, though, are mostly due to this media not being perfected yet. Sometimes sites go down, there are viruses and worms, information gets lost and distorted when it’s re-posted–but mostly, there is the constant complaint that reading a story online just isn’t like reading used to be, because you can’t hold it in your hand. Still, you can print that story up and take it with you if you want. But people with office jobs like to goof off by reading stuff on the web when their bosses aren’t watching–so this makes work more tolerable for everyone.

Standaert: As for Exqusite Corpse, having been a print magazine for fourteen years, and then going exclusively web-based, apart from the anthologies, do you think that gives it some status, staying power and maybe a starting advantage that most other webzines don’t have starting out? And the Codrescu name?

Spitzer: Its reputation as a high-quality, avant-garde literary journal followed it from papyrus into cyberspace. And for any laments that it’s not in paper anymore, I’d argue that it has actually come to occupy a much more important place in not only poetry and fiction, but in its new personality as a forum for presenting news with a twist, criticism that doesn’t make a reader fall asleep, cutting-edge interviews, and commentaries from foreign places. Meanwhile, we’re getting thousands of hits everyday, and whenever Andrei says something on NPR, the numbers increase exponentially.

Standaert: Why do you think more writers of Codrescu’s status have not done similar projects? It seems like a good way to reach an audience while also getting other voices out there as well.

Spitzer: As for why others have not done anything similar, besides Francis Ford Coppola, I'd hazard it's because they didn't want to take the risk. Andrei really pioneered this field. I figure he probably figured that if he stayed in print he'd have to have a website to support the in-print product anyway—which is something most magazines are finding out they have to do these days—so why not put all that energy into the new frontier and see what happens? Also, yes, the web works well for reaching people, but putting people out there isn’t as important to us as putting brilliant stuff out there that does something different, and does it with attitude.