Written Interview with Romanian Exile and Poet Andrei Codrescu
Please enjoy this written interview with Andrei Codrescu.
Andrei Codrescu is a Romanian-American poet, novelist, essayist, screenwriter, and commentator for National Public Radio. He was the Mac Curdy Distinguished Professor of English at Louisiana State University from 1984 until his retirement in 2009.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrei_Codrescu
https://youtu.be/SDwijSla1FI
Enjoy...
1) How would you describe yourself to someone who may not be familiar with you?
Terrifying. Someone in the Witness Protection Program. Types through sunglasses.
2) How would you describe your writing style?
Lyric pampleteering authored by dead exiles who use me as a medium.
3) When I am writing, I tend to have the prose stylings of George Orwell and Christopher Hitchens at the forefront of my mind. Are there any authors that you look up to for inspiration?
Yes, but it's their call -- if they need me to type, they channel. I hear them. I just typed a paragraph from Goethe's "Theory of Colors" that he thought of postmortem while exiled from Weimar to Hades. He forgot to include taupe in his pyramid of colors. It's fixed now.
4) Back in 1970, you published a collection of poetry entitled, "License to Carry a Gun", which won the "Big Table Award" that same year.How would you describe the subject matter of that particular book?
America's obsession with guns. The book sold a million copies in gun stores, along with The Shooter's Bible and The Gun Digest. To this day nobody knows it's poetry. Same thing happened with Brautifgan's "Trout Fishing in America."
5) In 1991, you published "The Hole in the Flag: A Romanian Exile's Story of Return and Revolution". In plain words, what was it that caused you to become an exile?
I couldn't stand the boredom of communism, and I wanted to eat something other than plum jam. Otherwise, I was very happy.
6) You covered the Romanian Revolution back in 1989 for NPR and Nightline. One of the most imperishable images of that period would have to be the vile Ceaucescu and his infamous speech on the balcony. I would love to get as much information from you as you're comfortable giving regarding what that experience was like?
My book, "The Hole in The Flg: an Exile's Story of Return and Revolution" should have more than enough information to make anyone uncomfortable, including myself.
7) Did you ever have any run-ins with the Securitate?
Many. A Colonel V. told me that "the red cow who gives no milk" in one of my poems was the Communist State. I told him it was just a sterile red cow, so they sent me to a mental hospital for electroshock. Incredibly effective therapy! I wish it was used in the U.S. for poets who use metaphors.
8) As a result of your time covering the revolution, you were interviewed by one of my personal inspirations, the late great Christopher HItchens for the 1991 program, " After the Revolution" . When did you first meet and develop a friendship with Mr. Hitchens?
Hitch was a fun drunk. We killed one night in Chicago, and we had the shakes when we performed next day at the Art Institute in Chicago. He also smoked and they wouldn't let him. He was lucid, especially after a line of cocaine. Great accent. Between our accents nobody knew what we were talking about. I loved the guy.
9) Can you recall the last time you saw and spoke with him?
No. Neither does he. (Usually, the dead have the better memory.)
10) This may seem a somewhat banal question, but I would love to know: do you have a "favorite" book or poem that you have written?
The Bible.
11) You founded the online journal "Exquisite Corpse" back in 1981. What would you say in the main mission of "Exquisite Corpse"?
To overthrow the government. Also, to keep the illiterate masses on their toes.
12) I'm a writer. I am working on a biography of William F. Buckley and a Thriller novel. What advice would you give to me as an aspiring author?
Combine the genres. Channel Buckley him and ask what he'd do to Trump: write down carefully what he says about the rack wheel and the Chinese reading torture.
13) You've been interviewed many times over the years, by people far more capable than myself. Has there ever been a question that hasn't been asked of you that you wished someone would ask?
Yes. How old are you? 273.
14) If you weren't an essayist and novelist, what do you think you would be in life?
A thief and a Zuckerberg with ethics.
Thank you again for taking the time! I look forward to picking up a copy of "The Hole in The Flag" from your website.
https://www.codrescu.com/
Andrei Codrescu is a Romanian-American poet, novelist, essayist, screenwriter, and commentator for National Public Radio. He was the Mac Curdy Distinguished Professor of English at Louisiana State University from 1984 until his retirement in 2009.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrei_Codrescu
https://youtu.be/SDwijSla1FI
Enjoy...
1) How would you describe yourself to someone who may not be familiar with you?
Terrifying. Someone in the Witness Protection Program. Types through sunglasses.
2) How would you describe your writing style?
Lyric pampleteering authored by dead exiles who use me as a medium.
3) When I am writing, I tend to have the prose stylings of George Orwell and Christopher Hitchens at the forefront of my mind. Are there any authors that you look up to for inspiration?
Yes, but it's their call -- if they need me to type, they channel. I hear them. I just typed a paragraph from Goethe's "Theory of Colors" that he thought of postmortem while exiled from Weimar to Hades. He forgot to include taupe in his pyramid of colors. It's fixed now.
4) Back in 1970, you published a collection of poetry entitled, "License to Carry a Gun", which won the "Big Table Award" that same year.How would you describe the subject matter of that particular book?
America's obsession with guns. The book sold a million copies in gun stores, along with The Shooter's Bible and The Gun Digest. To this day nobody knows it's poetry. Same thing happened with Brautifgan's "Trout Fishing in America."
5) In 1991, you published "The Hole in the Flag: A Romanian Exile's Story of Return and Revolution". In plain words, what was it that caused you to become an exile?
I couldn't stand the boredom of communism, and I wanted to eat something other than plum jam. Otherwise, I was very happy.
6) You covered the Romanian Revolution back in 1989 for NPR and Nightline. One of the most imperishable images of that period would have to be the vile Ceaucescu and his infamous speech on the balcony. I would love to get as much information from you as you're comfortable giving regarding what that experience was like?
My book, "The Hole in The Flg: an Exile's Story of Return and Revolution" should have more than enough information to make anyone uncomfortable, including myself.
7) Did you ever have any run-ins with the Securitate?
Many. A Colonel V. told me that "the red cow who gives no milk" in one of my poems was the Communist State. I told him it was just a sterile red cow, so they sent me to a mental hospital for electroshock. Incredibly effective therapy! I wish it was used in the U.S. for poets who use metaphors.
8) As a result of your time covering the revolution, you were interviewed by one of my personal inspirations, the late great Christopher HItchens for the 1991 program, " After the Revolution" . When did you first meet and develop a friendship with Mr. Hitchens?
Hitch was a fun drunk. We killed one night in Chicago, and we had the shakes when we performed next day at the Art Institute in Chicago. He also smoked and they wouldn't let him. He was lucid, especially after a line of cocaine. Great accent. Between our accents nobody knew what we were talking about. I loved the guy.
9) Can you recall the last time you saw and spoke with him?
No. Neither does he. (Usually, the dead have the better memory.)
10) This may seem a somewhat banal question, but I would love to know: do you have a "favorite" book or poem that you have written?
The Bible.
11) You founded the online journal "Exquisite Corpse" back in 1981. What would you say in the main mission of "Exquisite Corpse"?
To overthrow the government. Also, to keep the illiterate masses on their toes.
12) I'm a writer. I am working on a biography of William F. Buckley and a Thriller novel. What advice would you give to me as an aspiring author?
Combine the genres. Channel Buckley him and ask what he'd do to Trump: write down carefully what he says about the rack wheel and the Chinese reading torture.
13) You've been interviewed many times over the years, by people far more capable than myself. Has there ever been a question that hasn't been asked of you that you wished someone would ask?
Yes. How old are you? 273.
14) If you weren't an essayist and novelist, what do you think you would be in life?
A thief and a Zuckerberg with ethics.
Thank you again for taking the time! I look forward to picking up a copy of "The Hole in The Flag" from your website.
https://www.codrescu.com/
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