Ben Smith's new book of poetry, "I Fucking Love You, Bitch," 24 pages, is available through lulu.com.
This thin volume of verse is openly crude and self indulgent but written in an extremely candid and uncompromising style. In the great tradition of Bukowski these poems are about fucking, drinking beer and the writing process. Smith unashamedly and truthfully reveals his relationship with his woman - warts and all. His free verse language is unadorned, and occasionally, highly amusing. Smith has a lot going for him: He is young, strongly determined, highly entrepreneurial and unafraid to take risks. In fact, he is the maddest fucker I have come across in the poetry industry in Australia. Smith can’t spell for shit and couldn’t care less but in reading his work you will discover a fresh filthy voice that is becoming more widely known in underground circles.
In a recent interview over the Internet I asked Ben a few questions to help me clarify where he was at:
How long have you been writing and who are some of main influences?
I guess i always wrote a little bit. Always been embarrassed by the poetry side of things growing up so i gave it away or kept it so minimal for a long time it basically didnt breath. Kids i knew and, im some respects the life i was leading, didnt really have much time for poetry and shit like that. It wasnt till i read the heavy weights like Miller, Buk, S. Richmond and Todd Moore, that i realized there was a whole different side to the gutless, wordy, poofter, poetry shit around and i became more open to honesty and life experiences. I used the embrassment and shame of the poetry to humiliate my self with honesty. It's a masochistic kinda circle but i think its fitting.
Where have you been previously published and what were the circumstances which lead you to self publish?
I've been published in many E-zines. A few spots in some overseas mags and shit like that. Nothing major. Nothing to blow over. Made a few bucks here and there but mainly in chaps and cheap presses.
I think the best publication i have is the Joint created gluebook called “Giant” with German artist and friend THS. It has a Polaroid of my dick in it and some great pages filled with sleaze. THS is a talented artist and we colaberate using my words and his fucking out of control handstyles and smutt stickings. “Giant” is on display in a polish gallery with a price tag of 600 euro. I think it's funny that my cock might be on some dude's coffee table. I self published cause no other bastard would press up my filth and i didnt know what else to do. I will probably self publish for the rest of my life and die an unpublished underachiever who thought people where interested in his sex life.
In your latest chapbook in your poem ‘I tell her’ you keep telling yourself to ‘keep this shit under your hat’. Why did you decide to publish the intimate details of your relationship with your girlfriend? What has been her reaction?
It's funny cause i ment that all to be so ironic. I mean, its all true but i wanted a subtle twist of irony in it all. My woman laughs. She thinks im insane. She says "please, for god sake, dont let my mother see this!" When she read it herself, i half expected to get a fat lip, but she laughed and remembered the storys and things. She thinks i embellish tales and make her seem cheap and thats really not my intention. That's where the irony of it all is. If you meet me in real life, I think im actually a very stable and overly gentle person. As is she. I like that whole fakeness in the truth of the secrets we tell and then hope no one hears. its a run around. It's funny. She thinks it's funny.
In ‘Stories’ you mention your preference for writing poems about your room, or the cat, ‘or your woman under/ a brown/ felt blanket’. Do you also write poems about your life as an industrial painter? If so, where can people find them?
I guess i do write a few poems about work. I be steady in regards to poems specifically about labour and work because i dont want to come across as a "woe is me" kinda dude. Id rather focus on the people and their struggles. Or joys. Or our interactions. I feed from that type of thing. Esspecially with the working class. Or lower. The rough nuts with no teeth, the ones who smoke 50 ciggerettes a day and drink their first beer at 9:00am. The fingers to the bones. Them guys, or gals. They have the struggle to justify the outcome. I remember seeing a "Malcom in the middle" episode that justifies what i'm trying to say here
The wiki script of the episode in mention.
"As the family hoses off in the backyard, Malcolm still remains angry at his mother for turning down the job and forcing him to still go to Harvard. She explains that their plan, all along, was to make sure that he is never happy. She continues that his long struggle, through Harvard and beyond, will eventually land him in the position of President. Malcolm counters, saying he could have taken the software job and bribed his way into office. With a stern look, Lois concludes - "You wouldn't have suffered enough", and explains that for all his hardships, Malcolm will be the only one who understands what life is like for families like his, and as President he will be smart enough to change things. While Malcolm is still outraged his entire life has been planned, Lois dares Malcolm to tell her he can't become President, and as Malcolm reflects, he is speechless."
Thats the kinda person we need to run this place. Someone who knows what its like to sleep on a mattress in a bong blitz for 3 months and live off water boiled sausages in the end crusts of bread. Haha, the powers are to flabby these days. Too soft. I mean, look at our fearless leader and his “programmatic specificity”. Motherfucker needs to get a grip (and that's about as political as I get)
What’s your next project?
I'm currently working on a new book called Horror Sleaze Trash, which is being edited by Mike Daily and designed by THS. I am also hoping to have a book launch for "I fucking love you, Bitch" at the end of the year alongside a few local Melbourne poets, including Fee Sievers from POAM. I have had a few poems in the new Epic Rites Journal and hope to have another chap out by the end of the year. You can check out dumb shit on my blog, www.horrorsleazetrash.blogspot.com.
George Anderson
adam s - 2010-04-26 13:28:04
"The rough nuts with no teeth, the ones who smoke 50 ciggerettes a day and drink their first beer at 9:00am." The truly blessed. I love that you focus on them. Most forget.
Park - 2010-04-27 09:24:58
Cool, celebrity buddy~! I'm looking forward to your new books coming. cheers.