Today is Sending Nudes release day! To celebrate, we have a virtual launch tonight, 15 January, at 7:00pm GMT. Would love to see you there. Click here to register.
And, we would like to introduce you to poet Michał Kamil Piotrowski, author of 'Dick Pic' in the anthology, who says:
"What do we really show when we send a nude? Is there anything more than a body in the picture? Maybe there is more, maybe there's space for our creativity, heart, and soul. Well, at least I wish there were space."
Many thanks to Michał for this interview.
Your submission for Sending Nudes is both literal and subversive. What were your ideas and thoughts behind 'Dick Pic'?
"Dick Pic" is one of the poems written just for fun. Its first version was written for my partner as a gift, an artistic dick pic. I wanted to write concrete poetry with a twist so I decided the form of a penis accompanied by a very active, penetrative language could create an interesting effect.
How do you feel about the digital world, and phones, having such an effect on how we can so quickly just send a nude? Is there a creative process that accompanies that?
Nudes can definitely be a result of a creative process although the majority of them are not. Phone cameras definitely made taking nudes more common and sending them has become more normalized but also I feel that sending a nude has become a much less special act.
I read that you have an interactive book which has been co-written by Google Translate, can you tell us more about this?
I worked for many years as a foreign language teacher and I hated when students used Google Translate as it often gives incorrect translations. I wanted to write a book that highlights both the incorrectness of translations and the cultural differences rooted within languages. I used Google to translate passages of the original work "The Cursory Epic" by Stephen Mooney to a foreign language and back to English, and that's how my "The Cursory Remix" was born. One of its chapters is interactive and full of blank spaces where the reader is invited to fill them with their own translations.
What do you think about the medium of technology, or AI, and writing?
I believe that the era of creative machines is approaching so we might as well play along. I enjoy using technology while writing; I guess I'm leaving space for technology in my writing. It produces interesting effects.
What have you been reading during lockdown?
During the lockdown, I needed some comforting so I read some of the books from the Moomin series. Although perceived as books for kids, many of the Moomin books are actually books that only an adult can fully understand. I love the deep psychological descriptions, especially the study of anxiety and OCD that "The Fillyjonk who believed in disasters" is.
Describe yourself in 3 words.
I guess my three words would be cute, artsy, and sarcastic.
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Sending Nudes is an intimate collection of fiction, nonfiction and poetry about why people send nudes. Release date is 15 January 2021. To pre-order from Guts visit: gutspublishing.com/sending-nudes. It's also available on Amazon worldwide. Click here to pre-order from Amazon US and Amazon UK.
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Michał Kamil Piotrowski is a poet living and working in London. He writes mostly experimental, visual and technology-powered poetry. He enjoys making poetry interactive and he mostly works with found text. His interactive book The Cursory Remix has been co-written by Google Translate and is available to read on issuu.com with a print version forthcoming from Contraband Books.
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