Pigeon Pages Interview
with Alex Dimitrov
Do you have a bird story or favorite feathered friend?
No. But I like the opening lines of Frank O’Hara’s “Autobiographia Literaria” where he says, “When I was a child / I played by myself in a / corner of the schoolyard / all alone. // I hated dolls and I / hated games, animals were / not friendly and birds / flew away.”
What is your most memorable reading experience?
Reading Jack Spicer for the first time.
What makes you most excited about being a poet in 2020?
Not being a politician.
To tweet or not to tweet?
It doesn’t matter either way.
What books do you have in your bag right now?
The Passion According to G.H. by Clarice Lispector because Blake Butler recommended it to me. Blue Eyes, Black Hair by Marguerite Duras because Melissa Broder recommended it to me.
Can you tell us your favorite rejection story?
I walked out in the middle of a date with a lawyer last summer because it was boring. Life is short.
What literary journals do you love?
The Paris Review is excellent right now.
What shakes your tail feathers?
The song “Mirror” by The Drums.
What advice do you have for fledgling writers?
Spend most of your time alone.
What other eggs do you have in your basket right now?
I have an orange and two cups of coffee for breakfast. The orange first.
Alex is reading with Pigeon Pages on Wednesday, February 26th, 2020.
Alex Dimitrov is the author of Love and Other Poems, which will be published by Copper Canyon Press in February of 2021, as well as the poetry collections Together and by Ourselves and Begging for It. With Dorothea Lasky he is the co-author of Astro Poets: Your Guides to the Zodiac. His poetry has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Paris Review, and Poetry. He lives in New York.