Where and when were you born?
Chicago, Illinois, in 1952.
Could you tell us something
about your background?
My father went to college
(night school) on the GI bill and was a certified public accountant. My mother took courses now and then but was
mainly a housewife and office worker later in life. She suffered from serious depression most of her life.
I went to the U of Illinois
Chicago for undergrad and grad school, majored in English, minored in German,
was a U of Illinois Fellow.
Were either of your parents or grandparents (or any other relatives) writers? If not, were any of your relatives actively interested in literature?
My mother’s mother, who was a Russian immigrant who’d gone deaf as a child in Russia and spoke mainly Yiddish, was a poet. My mother’s sister also wrote and published a little poetry. There were books in my house and frequent outings to the library. We were a family that read.
Are any of your siblings
writers or involved in a creative profession?
My sister is a science teacher. She and her daughter are writing and illustrating science books for children as a new project together.
What was the first poem (or who was the first poet) that turned you on to poetry?
I really liked Williams and Kenneth Rexroth.
.
What age were you when you first began writing poetry, and did you receive any encouragement?
I was 16 or 17. By the time I was 20, I was showing my work to a professor, Fred Stern, who taught poetry at the U of I. He was very encouraging.
.
When you started writing poetry did you have dreams about becoming a "professional" poet? If so, did anyone advise you against this course of action?
I wanted to be an English teacher, but then I decided to be a poet if I could.
.
Did you ever get a poem
published in your school magazine?
No, but I never tried.
Did you go to university, and
if so, which subject(s) did you study?
As I said (above), English and German.
When did you first start submitting to poetry magazines? And can you tell us how many rejections you received before having something accepted for publication?
I began submitting around age 21 and got work published soon. My first big publication was in The Paris Review at age 23.
What was the worst rejection
you ever received?
A review once called “The Chernoff turn-off.”
What was your first published poem? Which poetry magazine published it? And what year was it published?
See earlier question.
Round about the time that you started seriously writing poetry, who were your literary heroes? And would you say they had an influence on your writing style?
Those I already mentioned as well as the Latin American fabulists, Cesar Vallejo, Emily Dickinson, James Schuyler, and Frank O’Hara.
Have you ever attended a creative writing course or been involved in a writers' group? If so, did you find it useful?
I didn’t go to a program for writers, but took two poetry writing courses at my university. The professor (Michael Anania) gave me good encouragement.
When did you put together your
first collection of poetry?
My first was a chapbook called "The Last Aurochs" that a novelist friend at the U of Iowa made into a book as a class project in library school.
How long did it take to get it accepted for publication? And, if appropriate, how many times was it rejected?
After that, an expanded version won a Beyond Baroque Literary Award, which was publication. The book in that form was called "A Vegetable Emergency". I think it was rejected but nicely by Capra Press.
How long did you have to wait
between acceptance and final publication?
Don’t remember.
What sort of critical response
did you receive?
Very nice letters from people I admired from Robert Coover to Alice Notley.
Would you say that your
publisher actively promoted the book?
Sent out many copies.
Did you do readings and signings at bookshops to help promote the book? If so, did you organise these yourself, or were they organised by your publisher? And would you say that they had a significant effect on sales figures?
Don’t remember.
How many copies of the book
sold?
It was an odd book. The idea was that it would be distributed free.
Is it still in print?
Still available as a rare book.
At the beginning of your writing career did you enter any poetry competitions? Did you enter a lot or just a few? Did you have any success? And, with hindsight, what are your thoughts about the relative merits or demerits of poetry competitions?
These days they are so prevalent you can’t avoid them as a younger writer.
Which of your poetry books has been the most successful in terms of sales, and how many copies has it sold to date?
I know how many copies of various fiction books have sold. I have no idea with poetry and publishers aren’t very good about telling you.
Have you won any awards for
your poetry?
Yes, many including The Carl Sandburg Award and an award from PEN.
Do you make a living out of
poetry?
Out of being a professor of creative writing who writes poetry, fiction, and does translations.
With the benefit of hindsight, are you glad that you pursued your dream of being a poet? Also, if you could turn the clock back, would you do anything different?
Of course I’m glad.
If a young would-be poet approached you, which poets would you recommend as vital reading?
The same ones I like at that point plus a good number of important historical figures including all the important Modernists.
Which poetry magazines would you
recommend him or her to subscribe to?
New American Writing, the magazine I edit with Paul Hoover.
Assuming that this would-be poet showed some promise, would you advise him or her to pursue a "career" in poetry?
It’s up to the would-be poet, of course.
Finally (and extremely hypothetically), you are selected to appear on the hit reality TV show, "Desert Island Poets", where you are marooned on a tropical island for three months with a typewriter and several reams of paper. You are provided with all necessary provisions, but you are only allowed to take three books with you. Your appearance fee is more than you could hope to earn in a decade and the show is so popular that all previous participants have become best-selling poets. So, would you participate? And if so, which three books would you take with you?
No, because I hate reality shows.
See: Maxine Chernoff's
publication list
See: Maxine Chernoff's Website
See: New
American Writing
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