Before Dinner Cocktail: K. Silem Mohammad & Heather Christle Respond to a Questionnaire

K. Silem Mohammad and Heather Christle generously sent these revelations vis-a-vis the Poetry Lives Questionnaire.

Ms. Christle's (1st!) book, The Difficult Farm, is on Octopus Books.
Mr. Mohammad's (latest) book, The Front, is out by Roof Books.


K. Silem Mohammad:

Describe your typical breakfast.
Cinnamon scone and coffee.

What book is on your bedside table?
Douglas Oliver, Poetry and Narrative in Performance (Palgrave Macmillan, 1989).

Favorite place in the world.
San Francisco.

Did/Do you have a “mentor?” Who is s/he?
My junior college poetry teacher, Lee Nicholson, gave me all kinds of "permission" to write in whatever ways I found interesting.

Are you the caretaker of an animal? What is his/her name?
No pet of my own, but my neighbor's cat Valentino likes to come over a lot, especially when I have company.

Do you have a favorite verse from a “holy” scripture?
I like Mary Sidney's translations of the Psalms (that's not a single verse, I realize).

Preferred drink.
Dry gin martini, up, with an olive.





Heather Christle:

Describe your typical breakfast.
There are several. One is scrambled eggs on buttered toast with lots of salt and pepper. Another is toast with strawberry jam. Another is to just drink coffee until it is eleven and move straight to lunch.

What book is on your bedside table?
Julio Cortazar's HOPSCOTCH and the complete stories of Kafka and Ana Božičević's STARS OF THE NIGHT COMMUTE.

Favorite place in the world.
Lake Winnipesaukee. You have been there!

Did/Do you have a “mentor?” Who is s/he?
No.

Are you the caretaker of an animal? What is his/her name?
Yes! Hastings!

Do you have a favorite verse from a “holy” scripture?
Not especially, no. Proverbs can be fun, and I do like it when Enoch walks with god and is not, but I cannot say those are truly favorites.

Preferred drink.
Coffee with lots of soymilk is what I prefer right now. Later I will prefer tea. Later even than that some friends are bringing over a before dinner cocktail and I do not know what it will be but I imagine I will prefer it as well.