Name of the piece published by BCC:
When/where was it originally published:
diphthong lit 2022
What is the background of the piece? What led you to write it? What’s your process?
I’ve been writing a lot of cento poetry over the last year. Back in March, I published my
first chapbook, May All Our Pain Be Champagne: A Collection of Real Housewives Twitter
Poetry where I made poems found on the Twitter accounts of 16 current/former members
of the Real Housewives TV franchise.
I wanted to try the same process again, but this time used RuPaul’s Drag Race contestants,
as there are probably over 200 across the international franchise and they are more active
on social media. The process involves pouring over months’ worth of tweets on their official
pages, mining quotes into a doc, and then seeing what verses I could come up with. This
would involve finding repeated phrases, turning long tweets into stanzas, and more.
I do this for the sheer fact that it’s fun. It’s a challenging process that can take hours to
write a single one-page poem, but it’s a way to turn what could be seen as artless content
and recontextualize it into a new format. And of course, every person I make a poem out of
provides a unique, interesting voice, so to turn them into poets in the process is quite
astounding to see realized.
With this piece in particular, Kornbread “The Snack” Jeté was a newer figure in the
community, having been a contestant on the recent 14 th season of the show, but in just a few
months had produced some hilarious tweets and documented her life in ways that were
silly and touching. She could tweet stuff like “It’s dick:35 pm” and talk about how she had
to go vegan for six months due to losing a bet, but she could also talk about her
transitioning and how her life has changed since appearing on a national platform. She
provided a hilarious mix of humor and heart that made for a great poem.
How did you feel when it was first published and how have your thoughts or feelings on the
piece changed from then to now?
I was disappointed when dipthong lit collapsed due to some behind-the-scenes drama, but
getting the chance for “Kornbread Dreams of Brighter Days to Come” to find a new home
and a new audience really pleases me. Part of its resurrection coincided with my renewed
work on my collection of Drag Race Twitter poems, which I’ve been looking to expand into
a full length collection since it’s proving too long for many chapbook calls. At the time of
this writing, I have just under 40 poems written and I have several more planned, so I hope
to start querying the manuscript in early 2023.
When I see “Kornbread” featured in Bulb Culture Collective, I see the poem experience
new joy and life. The site is all about the joy of having work saved and rediscovered.
There’s a thrill each time a piece is published, and if my poem with lines like “I’m so down
to shake a titty” can be a part of that, it makes me thrilled that my publication with the site
can be attached to someone who radiates joy.
Also, getting the piece published on Bulb Culture Collective meant that Kornbread herself
found and read the poem, and that if anything makes it worth it.
Is there a specific message you'd like readers to take away from reading this piece?
Kornbread is living her best life doing her art and existing as her true self, and the poem
shows that unbridled honesty and peace that she has found in her world. I feel like getting
to create poems like that has been affirming for me. I just entered my 30s and feel like for
the first time in my life I’m truly living a balanced life where I can make a livable wage and
have plenty of time to work on my art. If Kornbread can do drag for a living and a guy like
me can make silly poetry that makes people laugh, then why can’t the reader also find their
own way to be artistic and spread joy.
Where can readers find more of your work? (Website/social media, etc)
You can find me on Twitter @carriganak to find out more about my publications and any
writing I’m doing. You can also check out my author website carriganak.wordpress.com to
see an archive of my work.
If you would like to support my work, you can find May All Our Pain Be Champagne: A
Collection of Real Housewives Twitter Poetry on Amazon. It’s a perfect gift for any Bravo
lovers in your life, and it can be enjoyed even if you don’t watch any Real Housewives show
and just want to see some satirical poetry. Thank you in advance!