// Short story writer and poet Ofelia Hunt | Photo Credit: Ofelia Hunt
As a child we’re taught it’s bad to lie, but that’s what makes Ofelia Hunt, an author who openly admits she lies, a force to be reckoned with. For Hunt, it’s the greater the lies, the better the work. In her latest collection of poetry, My Eventual Bloodless Coup, she invites her readers into her world of wonder that is different from the ‘norm’ but yet very addictive and so intriguing that will keep you turning pages. The author recently spoke with Art Nouveau Magazine about everything from her random love of Pepsi to being a feminist.
“I don't think I try to convey any messages. I try to make people suddenly sad and teary-eyed."
Art Nouveau Magazine: The first question that comes to mind is how did you come up with the title My Eventual Bloodless Coup?
Ofelia Hunt: I took a line from a poem I had written to use as the title. I don't know why I chose it, other than that I liked it, that it was "bloodless". I don't know. I think, in stories, lying's important, and, as a title, "My Eventual Bloodless Coup" is a kind of lie, but a safe lie, a lie that makes me feel relaxed, and a lie that felt like I was making fun of myself.
ANM: There are many references to animals and nature in your writings, how do you connect with nature and animals? Do you have any pets?
OH: I have a beta fish named Frank who lives in a small bowl on top of a kitchen chair, next to my window. Frank's quiet and doesn't demand much of me, or anyone. Animals and nature demand almost nothing from me, or any other human-being, which is strange and beautiful. I live in a Portland, OR now and feel disconnected from nature, as though nature and animals and plants are alien worlds and when I write I feel alienated. I don't know. I made that up but it sounds true, maybe. Also, I think, without rereading stories, that many of the animals I write about are violently attacked, with knives, or are stolen. What could this mean? I try not to think about it.
ANM: Throughout "My Eventual Bloodless Coup" you mention your boyfriend. Is there a special someone in your life and does he inspire you in anyway when it comes to your writing?
OH: I'm not sure I can answer this exactly. I show all of my writing to my roommate, Madison, and in a way, she's my first audience. I think I never feel inspired. Sometimes I will be with my brothers, or with Madison, or some other friends, and I will think about something and this will make me want to write, but I don't think it's an inspired feeling. Usually when I'm writing a story or poem, or whatever, I don't know what the thing is or why I'm writing it, only that I want to write, at that moment, maybe so I won't be bored or maybe to distract myself somehow, from other things, like work or people. Also, sometimes I feel like I want to write something that will make people feel suddenly very sad [I don't think I've ever succeeded in this]. I think this is because I'm a bad person.
ANM: And I have to know, are these true accounts meaning do you really say things like "I want you to watch as my left eyeball and right ear is removed while you watch" to your boyfriend?
OH: Or have you really walked into a Safeway and and started talking to the produce stocker guy? By the way, we have Safeways back at home too! These are not true accounts. There are some true things in them. The thing about the eyeball is the kind of thing I think and then maybe I might say something like this to Madison or other friends, as a joke. In "Penguins swim around" I mentioned an NPR show about quantum computers and that's something I listened to once, while driving cross-country. That's as close to truth as I ever get. I never talk to produce-stocker guys in Safeway. I never talk to anyone I don't know. Sometimes I imagine talking to strangers, cashiers, stockers, etc… but somehow it feels like an imposition, so I mostly smile and nod.
ANM: Is Pepsi your favorite soda of choice?
OH: Yes. I don't know why. And I feel guilty when I drink it.
ANM: Where do you get your inspiration from?
OH: My thoughts appear as words in my brain, all at once, usually when I'm bored. I don't have inspiration. When I try to write something I listen to music, like, right now, I'm listening to some band called the Desapercidos, something Madison likes. If I can't think of anything to write, then I listen, and read newspapers online. Eventually I think of something and I type it. I probably modify it five or six times after that, and keep going. That is as close to inspiration as I get.
ANM: And why do you choose to write about the subject matter in your short stories?
OH: I don't know. I think, eventually, things I write about in my stories are things that interested me around that time. I think when I wrote "One baby is like any other baby" I had been reading a lot of Kenneth Koch poems and he has this poem "One train may hide another" which has a similar phrase. I wanted to write a phrase that sounded like that and repeat the phrase in different ways. As I was doing that I thought about Christopher Walken and other things and typed them. I think I wrote something in that story that explains this. I feel guilty for quoting myself, but I'm going to anyway, then consider writing about myself in the third person. Here's the quote: "'Stop,' he says. 'I didn't mean that. I don't know why I said that. Sometimes I just say things. I don't know how not to say things.'"
ANM: Do you try to convey any messages to your reader in your latest book? If so, what?
OH: I don't think I try to convey any messages. I try to make people suddenly sad and teary-eyed. I fail. Sometimes I make myself sad and teary-eyed. But this is a failure. I'm wrong. My message is that life is constant failure, and lying.
ANM: What books are you currently reading and by who?
OH: Here is a list of books I'm reading:
The Collected Poems of Kenneth Koch, by Kenneth Koch [I'm always reading this]
Tracer, by Frederick Barthelme
A Gringo Like Me, by Jennifer L. Knox
What's For Dinner?, by James Schuyler
Housekeeping, by Marilynne Robinson
Book, by S. Burgess
Bed, by Tao Lin
Your Trouble is Ballooning, by Amber Nelson
The Human War, by Noah Cicero
Part of the World, by Robert Lopez
This is a lot of books. I stack them next to my bed.
ANM: Who do you look up to as a writer in this industry?
OH: I don't know if I can answer that. I probably don't really look up to anyone who is still alive. I look up to Gertrude Stein, Ernest Hemingway, Kafka, and Jean Rhys.
ANM: Would you consider yourself a Feminist?
OH: I don't know. I read a little about Feminism, hoping it would help me to answer but it didn't. I am not an activist. If I have politics, they are generally not based on sex/gender, male/female ideas. However, I suppose, I have the luxury of not having to overly concern myself with these things.
ANM: What is next for you and your writing?
OH: Editing a novel. Putting together a chapbook of poems.
Please visit www.bearparade.com to read some of Ofelia Hunt's work including her collection of poetry My Eventual Bloodless Coup.
