I interviewed prolific musician and novelist Richard Cabut who has published numerous fanzines and books, written for all the major musical magazines, and played bass guitar with post-punk band Brigandage.  Richard’s new novel, Looking for a Kiss, is a post-punk, pop art, acid odyssey. His creative answers cover sex, music, creativity and cultural change. Enjoy!

Leslie: Your new book is called Looking for a Kiss. Tell us about the surface story and the deeper concerns. How would you describe the process of adapting your life to a story? What are the advantages and limitations of this approach? Continue reading A PUNK’S LIFE AS FICTION →

Interview with electric cellist Jo-anne Cox about her neurodivergent composition Defiant Journey blending music, activism and storytelling – a piece that transcends “the damming label of Borderline Personality Disorder” to “embrace the intensity, reactivity and exquisite sensitivity, that comes with having more powerful emotions than the norm.”

Leslie: Can you tell us about the electric cello, please. How it differs from the conventional cello in terms of sound, playing technique and characteristic repertoire? Continue reading CELEBRATING THE ELECTRIC CELLO & NEURODIVERGENCE →

In part two of my in-depth interview with international poet and translator Mark Statman I asked about his working methods, his poetry, and the culture of Mexico compared to New York. Mark’s latest collection, Exile Home has been written in San Pedro Ixtlahuaca and Oaxaca de Juárez after relocating from New York.

Leslie: What are your working methods?

Mark: I write all the time. I always have a notebook with me, a practice I started, I think, when I was in college. Continue reading MARK STATMAN: EXILE HOME, NEW YORK TO MEXICO, PART 2 →

Part one of an in-depth interview with international poet and translator Mark Statman whose recent volume Exile Home is his 10th published collection. Mark, who  has won national arts awards, is Emeritus Professor of Literary Studies at Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts, The New School, NY, and now lives in San Pedro Ixtlahuaca and Oaxaca de Juárez, Mexico.

Leslie: You start your new poetry collection Exile Home with an elegy to your father. Thinking personally, as a writer/teacher, how have you experienced father-son culture, in USA? How is it expressed in the contemporary arts? Continue reading MARK STATMAN: EXILE HOME, NEW YORK TO MEXICO, Part 1 →