Contributor Interview: Darren Demaree

Darren Demaree's poems in "A Night So Beautiful We Had to Burn Down the Senator’s House #22-24" are featured in vol. 61 of Spectrum. Order a copy here to read them as well as the fabulous work of all of our contributors.

Darren Demaree's poems in "A Night So Beautiful We Had to Burn Down the Senator’s House #22-24" are featured in vol. 61 of Spectrum. Order a copy here to read them as well as the fabulous work of all of our contributors.

Q: Why did you choose to submit to Spectrum?

I chose to submit to Spectrum because you folks have published some really fantastic work in the past, and you always produce a quality-looking release.

Q: What inspired you to write this piece, and why publish it now?

The three poems of mine included in this issue of Spectrum are all part of a long narrative sequence of poetry that revolves around a night that gets away from a group of adults who are trying to celebrate life, but are unable to move past their anger at the preventable death of one of their spouses. It puts the responsibility of that death at the feet of a Senator whose negligence requires an equally outlandish response.

Q: How long have you been writing poetry?

I've been writing poetry since I was fifteen. I think my first poem got picked up at twenty-two. I wrote this book over a month-long period in 2017.

Q: Do you think this style is indicative of you, as a writer?

I tend to write these incredibly long sequences (normally 72-142 poems, as long as 702), and this was one of those. There was a more narrative aspect to this one than normal, and I'm hopeful that I was able to pull that off to the degree that I wanted.

Related topics