State-meant
as a visionist, my photopo issues from both
conceptual targeting and a desire to unsettle the viewer. I want to "message" my
audience. when my visual work succeeds, construction serves as both intellectual
and emotional revelation. I must acknowledge, of course, my preference for
the gospel of physical and psychological horror. After all, human experience
is only and always the geography of deviance.
(for more on visionism, see the spring issue
of moria, as well as my last two books: 5 UNDERWORLD 6 and 7 UNDERWOR(L)D 8.)
Bio
William James Austin lives in New York City and remains addicted to its dystopian landscape. To date he has authored four collections of poetry and theoretical essays: 1 UNDERWORLD 2 and 3 UNDERWORLD 4 (S Press); 5 UNDERWORLD 6 and 7 UNDERWOR(L)D 8: TRANSTEXTUAL (Koja Press); plus the book length monograph, A DECONSTRUCTION OF T. S. ELIOT: THE FIRE AND THE ROSE (Salzburg University Studies).
His poetry, graphic art, essays, book reviews and letters have appeared or been exhibited in The Paterson Literary Review, The American Book Review, Blaze, Louisiana Literature, The New Laurel Review, Xavier Review, Koja, Black October, The Small Press Review, BluR -- the Boston Literary Review, Masthead, The World Healing Book (a 9/11 anthology from Iceland), Fell Swoop, Appearances, A Shout in the Street (as Allen Ginsberg's B-side), The Tulane Literary Review, The Chronicle of the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, Scrambled Eggs, Timbuktu, Contemporary Jewish American Dramatists and Poets (Greenwood Press), Spidertangle: The Book, Gallerichickenscratch, Magazinnik (in Russian translation), The Contemporary Review, xStream, Here and Now (Boston Public Radio), eratio, Moria, Caiete Internationale de Poezie (in Romanian translation), The June 30th Manifesto (ed. John M. Bennett and Scott Helms, Luna Bisconte Productions), The Best of Generator Press (CD Rom), the Durban Segnini Gallery (Miami), and other alleyways of saintly and ill repute.
His poetry has been twice nominated for the
Pushcart Prize by Richard Kostelanetz and BLuR: The Boston Literary Review,
and was judged a finalist in the Allen Ginsberg Poetry Award competition.
In 2002, a Russian translation of his long poem, "aeneas in hell," was presented
and discussed at the Stevens Institute of Technology Biennial Translation
Conference. Most recently, he was the subject of an article (in Romanian)
by the noted poet, critic and translator, Stefan Stoenescu, and was interviewed
on the PBS program, Romanian Voice.
In a former life he composed music and lyrics for Lou Rawls, the fusion group: Hammer, an embarrassing television sitcom, and other rock and jazz beez and wannabeez. He is currently Associate Professor of English and Philosophy and the Artistic Director of the Visiting Writers Program at the State University of New York, Farmingdale.
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