Literary Instigation #4



Interview with Thea Hillman by Cheryl B.:



Congratulations on you new book Depending On The Light (Manic D. Press)! Can you let us know how many years the poems span, I mean approximately how long it took you to write them?
This is a funny question to ask me because one of the poems in Depending on the Light was written when I was in kindergarten. Mostly though, the poems span about a six-year time period, from the mid-90s on.

The book is divided into five sections, was this intentional? Do each of the sections have a theme? I noticed the second was focused more on your family, do you tend to group your work together like that?
The book is divided into five sections. And it was very intentional, on my editor's part. I had organized the book very differently, but I feel that her vision really worked: The book is divided into very digestible themes. I see it divided up like this: sex, family, queerness, language, and changing the world. I actually don't group my work that way and was horrified when I first saw the galleys because I wanted to work to bust out of categories and traditional means of naming and defining. My goal when I write it to surprise and connect: I want a love poem to be political, or a poem about sex to also be about family and language. The way the book is organized, I think a sense of order is created so that the conversations between the pieces can be heard more clearly.

You thanked your family in the acknowledgements "for showing up and being proud even when I was reading about sex" Have they ever had an adverse reaction to your work? Has your mom ever asked you to write about "nice things"? (Mine has…) Do you think your family had a big part in your becoming a writer?
My family has been wonderfully supportive of my work all throughout my writing and performing career, even when they didn't agree with, understand, or like what I was saying. My brother used to think that I was writing about sex just for shock value, but with the book, he now sees the sex writing in a larger context and has very different, positive feelings about my work.
My mom and I have had a tough and amazing time dealing with both my work and the publishing of certain pieces in the book. And ironically enough, it's not the sex stuff that bothers her. My role in our relationship is to push my mom and challenge her...and that's happened a lot with Depending on the Light.
My family has played a huge part in my becoming a writer because they have always listened to me, given me room to speak, and treated me as if what I have to say is worth being heard. At an early age, I understood that I was unique and that my thoughts were special. I think that's a gift my family has given me that many other people aren't lucky enough to get when they are growing up. And it's a tough thing to have to develop that later in life.

Where did you grow up? Go to school, etc…
I was born in San Francisco on Union Street, grew up in Oakland, California. I went to public and private schools when I was a kid...attended UC San Diego and UC Santa Cruz, and recently got my MFA in English, Creative Writing from Mills College.

How long have you been in San Francisco?
I've been in San Francisco since I graduated from UC Santa Cruz in 1994. I almost ended up in New York. I had spent a year there and fell in love with it, but the sex-positive and performance art worlds drew me to San Francisco.

How long have you been writing?
I have been writing since I was a young kid. At the time, it seemed like a good way to express myself and a sure way to get attention.

What's your writing schedule like? i.e. do you write in the morning, in bed etc…
My writing schedule sucks! It's pretty non-existent, except that I often write specifically for shows that are coming up. I have a new project that I'm working on, and I have a writing group where I work on that...but often I feel crappy that I don't write on a regular basis, but I think that's just my way. I need to be in the world, doing activism, volunteer work, creating some drama to write about.

You talk a bit about the Intersex Society on your website. Can you tell us a little about what they do and what your involvement is with them?
ISNA stands for the Intersex Society of North America. Intersex is when babies are born with charactaristics that make them ambiguously male and female. These babies are most often perfectly healthy and fuctioning little kids, but the medical establishment is freaked out by diversity and by things that don't look "normal" and so they do plastic surgery on these kids to make them look better. This surgery is unnecessary, painful, often fails later in life, and takes away the ability to orgasm. ISNA is an advocacy and policy organization and I do activism to support them, helping to raise awareness about this widespread and almost unknown mutilation.

Can you tell us a little about the Hell on Heels Poetry Tour?
Hell on Heels was me and Daphne Gottlieb, touring the country in July of 1999. She was promoting her book, Pelt, and I was along for the ride, selling zines and t-shirts of my own. We had a blast, reading at slams and open mikes across the U.S. A lot of poems in my book were inspired by that tour.



I'm sending you a human letter bomb. What's she going to take back to you? If she shocks you by slapping you one of these nights, just know it's from me.

Depending on the Light by Thea Hillman. Thea would love to hear from people about the book.


So you're embarking on a five-week tour? Are you nervous, elated, high, insane, coming with anticipation? How long has it taken you to plan the tour? What cities are you particularly looking forward to? Are you traveling by yourself this time
I'm on the tour as I write this and I'm having such a great time. It's been months of work, probably since February/March, I've been working on setting up shows. I'm really looking forward to New Orleans because I've always wanted to go there. Des Moines will be awesome: we're doing a show there. New York will be great too, since you're performing with me, twice!!
I'm traveling with different people along the tour and performing with all sorts of kick ass writers along the way. Mostly though, I'll be accompanied by Storm Florez and Elizabeth Stark, author of Shy Girl.

How long have you been involved with the spoken word scene?
I've been involved in the spoken word scene since around 1994, when I produced a magazine release party for "Inciting Desire." Then I moved to SF and started doing readings up there.

Any tips for the queer young woman writer/performer?
Tips for the queer young woman writer/performer: 1) Know that your work is really viable and that there's an audience out there dying to hear your stuff. 2) Don't rely on sex poems to rile people up. 3)Be nice to the other girls. No matter what. 4) Tour.

Anything else you'd like to add?If people want to read my online tour diary, they can read it at: http://ilikejason.com/.




Read Literary Instigation #3 with Michelle Tea!1