“My Sisyphean task is to forever attempt with words what would be better done with sound…”
“The speakers in these poems are dancing to music on a razor’s edge of life’s ruthlessness.”
“It is my view that all poetry is song and action. As such, please consider Hivestruck to be a Brown cyborg libretto, an anthem for Latinerds like myself who were lying on the basketball court bleachers while dreaming of the stars, who imagined the fire hydrants were rocket ships and the subway a wormhole that could blast us into a dimension devoid of smog and bullies.”
“So here is my letter from the heart—or, rather, from my book’s heart—to you. Ten songs that encompass the vibes of these stories…”
“Like food, music becomes communal when played in shared spaces, and we play a lot of music in our house.”
“Certain songs sound like places to me. A sense of place, and place as character, is something I wanted in my book…”
“As a southern writer, I believe it’s vital to have Dolly Parton on this list. She represents the best of the region, unburdened by the problematic facets that sometimes poison it for progressives, both those from here and those born elsewhere.”
“I took a lot of long walks while writing and editing this book and preparing for its publication, and a few songs would often loop in my head. It’s not a long list, but it’s one that I hope will offer potential readers a glimpse into how music can offer us some alternatives to reflexive ‘I’m sorry’ statements.”
“Even though I’m immersed in literary culture, it’s music that most influences how and what I write. From its earliest chapters, in which a Cambodian pop song lingers over a Phnom Penh street, Between This World and the Next is shaped by musical spirits as diverse as the places and times it explores.”
“As I was writing these poems, the philosophy of the blues (though melancholy, not full of sorrow) carried my pen across the page.”