Eric Suzanne Drops Non-Linear Novel In Conjunction With Teacup Gorilla
by Tim Wenger
Eric Suzanne has been busy, and that’s an understatement. April 2 saw the release of his new non-linear novel Riding Side Saddle through Spring Gun Press, which coincides with his band Teacup Gorilla through a multi-media presentation of the novel. One of the most ambitious projects that has come across our desk recently, CMB decided to get the lowdown on what exactly this “multi-media novel” is, and where it is going. Eric was happy to catch us up.
CMB: Give us the background on this “multi-media novel.” What is it, how did the idea come to be, and what type of collaboration happened with the musicians?
ES: The initial spark comes from Jonathan Ned Katz in The Invention of Heterosexuality. Briefly: what does it mean to identify with a gender, and what does that have to do with our bodies? I combined that with my own conflicted experience of gender, some research on dissociative (out-of-body) experiences, eating disorders, and the Greek myth of Hermaphroditus — not because these things are comparable, but because they all highlight the relationship between your identity and your body.
The idea for a novel on notecards had been growing on me for some time, and felt like a perfect fit. There is a perceived disconnect between the genre identity of a “novel” and the physical format of shuffled cards. I want to take that further in the online version, with the addition of multimedia/hypertext features: animations, links, tags, music, etc.
Most “multimedia” work I’ve seen starts with a choice of media and develops from there. I don’t work that way. First I generate material, and then I start playing with different ways to present it. What does it look like as a book, or as music, or as a website? That may come from my background in theatre, where there is a more distinct line drawn between what is “script” and what is “performance” — one script can be performed in multiple ways. The same is true in my job as a web designer: one html document can be styled in many ways using CSS. Why should a novel be any different?
One performance of this novel involves physical cards in a box; another performance exists online, with multimedia features that can change and grow more organically; and a third version exists at “readings” where music becomes the central medium, and the words take a supporting role. By making it open-source, we’re giving you the option to invent new performances, or contribute back to ours for future renditions.
Teacup Gorilla has been involved from the beginning. This has always been a part of what the band does, and part of how I write. Our first gig ever was a dance/theatre collaboration with Vicious Trap in 2010, followed by a series of poetry readings around Denver and Boulder. Dan and Sondra are both writers as well, so sometimes they’ll give feedback on what I’m doing, or sometimes they’ll contribute directly. Sondra has several cards in the deck, and some of Dan’s song lyrics will appear in recordings for the digital version.
The other musicians (Jen Korte, Jessica DeNicola, and Open to the Hound) have joined us over the last month to help make the release a big event, and they’ve been great to work with. We want the evening to flow around a theme, without forcing everything into a single box — so everyone will play their own set, but we’re incorporating the novel into some of their music, and we’re bringing their musical talent into some of our songs. There will also be readers joining us — Jacob & Aaron Liechty both contributed to the text of the novel, while Erin Rollman & Brian Colonna (from Buntport Theatre) are just in it for the performance.
CMB: How did you begin working with Spring Gun Press? They have published some great books!
ES: I agree!
I met the SpringGun editors a few years back, when I was first looking for ways to get involved with the Denver writing scene. I was overwhelmed with the number of writing/reading events in the area, but Erin Costello’s bio stood out to me because she mentioned “electronic literature” and multimedia writing. I had never heard the term before, but it described a lot of my work, so I went to her reading and we started talking. They’re such an amazing group of artists, it’s been an honor to work with them.
CMB: Where will the book be available in Denver and online?
ES: Short answer: Everything will be available at ridingsidesaddle.net — we’ll keep that up to date with all the relevant news and links.
Long answer: City Stacks Cafe & Bookstore downtown is planning to carry the book. Other bookstores will be able to get it through Small Press Distribution, and we may talk to a few more about keeping it in stock. You can also order the physical version through the SpringGun’s website. The online version will be launched using OddBooks, the tool we’ve been developing with OddBird and used to write the novel. Hopefully we’ll have an initial, simple version live by Thursday. Advanced features will come as we get them working. The great thing about multimedia open-source work is that it’s never “done” — you just keep making it better, and updating the version number.
CMB: Any further projects planned at the moment?
ES: It’s hard to know where one project ends and the next one starts. As soon as this show is over, we’re going into the studio to record our debut EP. Some of those songs may get added to the digital novel when they are ready. We’re also planning a joint book/band Novel Affair tour for the summer. That should keep us busy for a while.
Category: Buzzworthy2
Subscribe
If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to receive more just like it.
 |
 |
