Ray Hsu is the author of a book of poems, Anthropy, which won the 2005 Gerald Lampert award for best first book of poetry in Canada. He has published or forthcoming poems in literary journals including Fence, New American Writing, The Fiddlehead (Canada), and nthposition (UK). He is completing his Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Buy his book here. See some work here. 1. What is the first poem you ever loved? Why? Keats’ La Belle Dame Sans Merci because it had funky rhythm. 2. What is something/someone non-“literary” you read which may surprise your peers/colleagues? Why do you read it/them? How to Be a Great Boss, a self-help book that uses alliteration to convince you that what it says is true. 3. How important is philosophy to your writing? Why? Incredibly important. Philosophy is the best way I've found to keep writing, tearing open what you've done, and writing. 4. Who are some of your favorite non-Anglo-American writers? Why? Walter Benjamin and Fernando Pessoa, perhaps because you don't read them so much as put them back together until the next time you read them. 5. Do you read a lot of poetry? If so, how important is it to your writing? Yes, I read a lot of poetry because it's the only way I can compose. 6. What is something which your peers/colleagues may assume you’ve read but haven’t? Why haven’t you? I haven't read Moby Dick. Nor quite a few other canonical American Lit things. People forget that I'm Canadian. 7. How would you explain what a poem is to my seven year old? A poem sometimes uses words that make you go, "Wow." 8. Do you believe in a Role for the Poet? If so, how does it differ from the Role of the Citizen? I doubt there's a specific role for the Poet so much as the role leads you to say things in the same way that a camera in your hands lets you notice the corners of buildings and tables. The role of the citizen keeps you from being locked out of places the same way that not having a library card keeps you from resources that everyone else has access to. 9. Word associations (the first word which comes to mind; be honest): Lemon**Chisel Chiseled**Damage I**Ingrain Of**Dove and amble Form**Cram 10. What is the relationship between the text and the body in your writing? When reading books, habits change in ways the mind doesn't notice. The body takes these things seriously but keeps some of them hidden from the mind. The body and mind go together to the library and read more books together; every now and then the mind eyes the body suspiciously and wonders what it's missing.