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[poetrypressweek]

How will you be involved in Poetry Press Week this season? We’re so excited to present the new work of 11 poets in real time.We want editors, publishers, media, and volunteers to come see what the fuss is about.

[jdprint]

#disjectapdx #disjecta #nopo #kenton #portland #oregon #deepunderground #dugpdx #hiphop #jazz

[poetrypressweekpdx]

Saturday Night: Poetry Press Week Fall/Winter, 2014 at Disjecta Contemporary Art Center. Photos courtesy of Mercy McNab.

[poetrypressweekpdx]

PPW F/W: JEFF ALESSANDRELLI

Each season we give Press Week poets the chance to answer three-to-five questions about their upcoming shows. Read all their bios, and find them live at Disjecta in Portland December 5-6, 2014.

(portrait by Zachary Schomburg)

POETRY PRESS WEEK: What's most appealing to you about the format of Poetry Press Week, and why?  

JEFF ALESSANDRELLI: To me the most appealing thing about the format of Poetry Press Week is the fact that’s in an idiosyncratic, one-of-a-kind event. Liz and Justin truly allow the poets and performers as much freedom as possible and that freedom begets creativity.  

PPW: What can a PPW presentation bring to your poems that perhaps you can't?

JA: Theater. Dynamics. Multiple voices and layers. Texture. Vibrancy.

PPW: What kind of interaction with your show do you hope for from the audience of readers, publishers, and press?

JA: I hope that my performers’ performance startles the audience into lucid bewilderment.  To be bombastic about it, I’d welcome either revulsion or praise. The only thing I fear is indifference.     

PPW: What's a message you'd like to send to your younger or older poet-self? Maybe a reassurance or a reminder you want them to have from this moment?

JA: Hmmm… I would stress to my younger self that time and patience are intertwined, and poetry and writing in general doesn’t exist within a 24-7 time frame. Life takes time and time takes time.

To my older poet-self I’d ask if it was worth it. And I’m hoping that he wouldn’t know how to answer that question either.  

PPW: What's another question you've been asked or conversation about Press Week you've had that you'd like to share?

JA: “What do poetry and fashion have to do with one and other?” To which I’d quote from the David Bowie song "Fashion":  

Listen to me - don't listen to me

Talk to me - don't talk to me Dance with me - don't dance with me, no Beep-beep Beep-beep Oh, bop, do do do do do do do do Fa-fa-fa-fa-fashion Oh, bop, do do do do do do do do Fa-fa-fa-fa-fashion La-la la la la la la-la