Andy Quan’s new book is titled Bowling Pin Fire. The Sydney-based poet joins KAYE SERA on the couch for a poetry rap.
Books written in verse are the best kept secret on the planet, aren’t they?
You got it. I try not to complain too much but it’s really hard to sell poetry. I don’t think that my writing is particularly difficult – I think people have some bad experiences of poetry and possibly people haven’t come across poetry that’s really touched them.
What are your earlier experiences of poetry?
Very early on in grade nine English class a teacher introduced us to William Carlos Williams and the famous poem about the plums that were left in the ice box – straight away it gave me the idea that poetry is accessible and can be very beautiful.
I particularly liked your poem, The Last Fathers. What’s that about?
It was very strange period of time when four friends all lost their fathers within a certain period. I felt the weight of their loss and grief and it kinda swirled around in my head and ended up as a poem.
There’s also a short poem in your book about crystal meth?
I have a number of poems that deal with recreational drug use. I think it’s an interesting part of who we are as gay men living in cities like Melbourne and Sydney and those poems reflect my experiences.
You describe crystal as a “modern hag casting spells” – that’s a very Shakespearean reference.
I definitely have friends who use crystal casually and use it in a controlled way and yet many of us know about people who have tipped over the edge into addiction. It’s a complicated, strange drug.
What view do you take with recreational drugs?
I’ve always considered experimentation as a way of expanding our experiences but having been around and seen the impact of these drugs – doing drugs every weekend regularly to the point that it has effects on your brain, health, work and friendships – I’m not sure it’s a positive thing at all.
You also work at AFAO (Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations) – how does that effect your poems?
Certainly my experience working in HIV has informed my writing though probably more my earlier erotic writings. Poetry comes from a pretty pure place for me. A memory jumps out of me that I want to get down on a page so politics don’t go into my poems necessarily. I don’t set out to write about particular issues. Although, if there is a politic it’s about being open and accurately reflecting experience.
This book is even more autobiographical than your other books.
I’ve found generally from reading Australian poets they don’t write autobiographically, but for me as a gay writer the way that we connect with our world is through our own experiences. I mean, if we understand who we are as gays and lesbians then it allows us to understand other people. In that way I hope my writing encourages other people to reflect on their own lives.
Bowling Pin Fire is available from Hares and Hyenas Bookshop
63 Johnston Street, Fitzroy
Details: 9495 6589, www.andyquan.com
by KAYE SERA 
