The first of Dana Jerman's short stories contains the line, "You make me ache for art so." And this ache runs through all her work, weaving itself into every word and image. The need for art is the need for meaning and significance, and Dana Jerman explores this need with layered images and desperate words. You'll be moved by the three poems and five short stories she presents here.
Dana says:
"'Right here, right now, watching the world wake up from history..'
"I think maybe Jesus Jones had it right, even words spoken decades ago seem to ring in my head like little deja vu alarms of things to come.
"So, I am a writer. And I guess I have to say that I write what I see. Even though every author is in one way, a character or sees herself in one, I don't try to steal the story from them. Egocentricities aside, I write what the (photographic) 'eye' sees.. The true writer's brain is a passive observer with an endless roll of film. (Yup, I'm also a photographer...)
"Prose poetry has always been my home, since I seem to find the need to tell a story, but not every part, especially dialogue; which I find to be tricky if it's not really heavy or really witty. It is a writer's fear (and it can come with a bitter consequence) that what they have to say will not be reciprocated or understood by a target audience.. Like a step down from stand-up comedy. Will I be 'on' today? I digress...
"I find it more productive to be post-modern and with the random joy of bathing in words pulled from dreams and figuring out what they mean and what they require by examining the piece later in revision.. Some people don't believe in revision at all. I think its the most vital chance you can give to any message.
"I'm a 22-year-old girl who likes Vladimir Nabokov A LOT (reading Tyrants Destroyed and Other Stories right now) but I'd have to site other favorite writers Audre Lorde (everyone should read ZAMI: A biomythography) William Golding (there's more to him than Lord of the Flies, Free Fall for example) and John Steinbeck (who pretty much saved my world with The Winter of Our Discontent).
"I'm a girl from the state of Pennsylvania with hazel eyes who likes film A LOT. I have made it my personal mission to watch my town's free library foreign and classic film collection in its entirety... it might seem like a futile activity, but after finishing Cool Hand Luke, (Paul Newman should change his last name to Genius) Citizen Kane, (Man, was Orson Welles REALLY only 25?) and Dr. Strangelove in practically one sitting it's a wonder I can move myself to doing anything else. All fun post-modern abandonment aside, these writers are REAL.
"Writing involves the continual act of writing. Sometimes I expect things to happen without making them happen to characters, and that almost never 'happens'... Even if you don't know where you want everybody to be in the end, if you get them to a point and give them a reason, they won't need you anymore. I guess that's why part of me feels like my writing doesn't even belong to me. I'm using the same words built from the same alphabet as other English writers. So in this I have discovered a variance of voice and the zen-like challenge to get beyond language. My poetry "sounds" very much alike, which frustrates me and I can get into ruts with it, whereas fiction always seemed to find its flow and where it belonged very quickly, personally. If you're a beginning writer and you're serious, make every piece count… cut it and hold it up to the light... scrutinize it like a jewel and keep it close but far away. Otherwise you'll inundate yourself with unfinished business and become jaded with the process. This is art, it's the only thing I've found worth working for and toward like a future in a crystal ball.
"If you like my poetry, check out www.livejournal.com/users/housepaint for updates (almost) weekly in my personal poetry journal... as well as the site: www.fucktherevolution.org. My journalist friend's site. Anyway, bio's make me nervous... if you have any questions or comments, email me at dmjermgurl@yahoo.com... or you can comment anonymously at the Live Journal site. Thanx."
Dana's works here at Unlikely Stories are:
2003:
Boiling Chocolate
2002:
Going into Velvet (audio only)
Periling Sound (audio only)
Non-Descript (audio only)
Love Equals Catastrophe
Vandalism
His Heart in Long Division
She Comes Out On Drive-In Nights
This Is About Us