Interviewed by Charles Ries

Q: You seem to have connected with many of the major poets in the small press, how did you manage to do that over such a short period of time?

A: It was rather easy actually. I simply became a fan of their work. Antler, Bill Taylor, A.D. Winans, justin.barrett, Glenn Cooper, Nathan Graziano, the list goes on … even publishers like Brian Morrissey and Bill Roberts. I became a fan of their work and that’s how I approached them as a publisher. What poet isn’t flattered when a publisher seeks him out because he’s just gotta publish one of his poems? Over time, I became quite close to a lot of those guys. I feel bad though because recently, I’ve kind of fallen off the map a little. I got married in 2004, and while it might sound cliché, I’ve sort of been adapting to (and fully embracing) my home life. Time goes by now without my even noticing because I’m doing this or that, and next thing you know, my friend A.D. turns 70 and I didn’t even wish him a happy birthday. I regret that. Also, I’ve taken on another job which has kept me pretty busy … I’m the editor of Milwaukee’s INFO* magazine. If it’s not one thing, it’s always something else.

Q: How does Milwaukee, Wisconsin work as a center for your publishing efforts? Do you ever wish you could be in New York or San Francisco?

A: There’s something romantic about being a publisher of poetry in this blue-collar Midwestern town. I feel at home here. And there’s a strong scene here as well, writers like Antler, Susan Firer, yourself, Catfish McDaris, Matt Cook, (the list goes on and on) – Alex Carlson, B.J. Best (whose book Crap I nominated for the Pushcart Prize), Brandon Lewis – calling Milwaukee their home, it’s a very exciting place to coexist as poet and publisher. I feel it almost an intrinsic duty of mine to put Milwaukee on the map – or at least, help keep it there. That’s why you’ll see many local poets in Anthills mingling with other small press big (and little) fish from across the U.S. and the globe.

Q: You know a ton of writers, now you have to pick your top two living poets and tell me who they are and why they top your list.

A: Only two? Jeeze. I’ll say, without a doubt, three of the best voices in the vast world of small press poetry are William Taylor Jr., justin.barrett, and John Sweet. Their work continually floors me and I will read their words until the day I die. Nathan Graziano is another who’s really come into his own. His book, Honey, I’m Home, is one of the best chapbooks I’ve ever read.

That said, however, my two favorite living poets are potentially the best-known small press poet actively working, and the least known: Antler and Gunther C. Fogle, respectively. Antler is perhaps the most wonderful human being I have ever had the privilege of getting to know. His poetry transcends every notion of beauty … he shows me things, allows me to see the world so clearly in ways I never thought imaginable. He is the closest thing the world has to Walt Whitman and his books should line the walls of your heart. They certainly do mine. I never go anywhere without my copy of his Selected Poems, and I make a point to read from it aloud whenever my travels take me someplace new. Antler is a blessing and I cherish him the way I cherish his poems.

As for GC Fogle, he’s a different breed entirely. The thing about Fogle’s work is that it always makes me want to write. There’s some sort of kinetic energy existing in his poems that drives me into action. His bravado is uncanny, but that’s something I dig about him. His poems are bigger than he is. They’re beautiful, they’re tragic, they’re hilarious … and most of them exist only in the envelopes he sent me from his flat in Colorado. Original copies he writes (on a manual typewriter, of course) and sends off to me without editing, without revision, without worrying about making copies first or sending them out to mags for publication. How romantic is that?!