SELFIE INTERVIEW | Josh Medsker

Josh Medsker is a New Jersey writer, originally from Alaska. His work has appeared.

Eckleburg: What drives, inspires, and feeds your artistic work?

Josh Medsker: Right now what’s driving me is total fear. I started a poetry project in July called Medskerpedia. Every day I read an entry from the Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics, and then I write a poem based on that day’s entry. For example, a little while ago my entry was “Anglo-Saxon Prosody”, so I researched the line arrangements in a section of Beowulf, and based my poem off of that. I’m 125 poems in right now. Only 1400 (roughly) to go! I mathed it out and it’s going to take me until the summer of 2019. Oy!

By far, though, the most rewarding part is the secret Facebook group for Medskerpedia. There are about 100 of us, participating in varying degrees, posting our work, commenting, and liking. The group had to be secret, so we could all send our work out in the future, without the risk of it being deemed previously published. If you are interested in joining the group, email me. The way the group is set up, we have to be friends on Facebook first… but it’s kind of a benefit, I think. All of the people in the Medskerpedia group have made a conscious decision to be there.

Eckleburg: If you had to arm wrestle a famous writer, poet or artist, either living or dead, who would it be? Why? What would you say to distract your opponent and go for the win?

Josh Medsker: I would arm wrestle Tristan Tzara. To distract him, I would lean over and whisper in his ear, “the odds are good that the goods are odd.” And while he was mulling that over, I’d slam his arm down. Then I would jump up victoriously.

Eckleburg: What would you like the world to remember about you and your work?

Josh Medsker: I Ioved people.

 

Eckleburg thanks Josh Medsker. Do you have new work published here at Eckleburg or elsewhere? Add your Selfie Interview and share the news with our 10,000+ reading and writing community. If you have a new book out or upcoming, join our Eckleburg Book Club and let our readers know about it.

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Eckleburg is a print and online literary journal that offers original fiction, poetry, essays, music, art, writing workshops and more.