Eckhard Gerdes earned an MFA in writing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, but not before one teacher threatened to choke Eckhard to death for producing writing that was too innovative. Eckhard’s true teachers have been the voices he heard through literature: Brautigan, Patchen, Joyce, Beckett, Federman, Barth, Jaffe, Burroughs, Acker, Moorcock, Calvino, Ionesco, and the amazing Arno Schmidt to name a few and the voices he has heard through other art forms, such as Clyfford Still, Picasso, Pollack, Kraan, Captain Beefheart, Firesign Theatre, Pere Ubu, Stockhausen, Webern, and, of course, the Doors. These are the voices of the idiosyncratic. They will be heard long after the weak voices have faded.  He lives near Chicago with two of his sons, Ludwig and Ulysses. His oldest son, Sterling, is away at college at Georgia Tech. Occasionally, Eckhard publishes The Journal of Experimental Fiction. At times, he writes about literature for The Review of Contemporary Fiction, American Book Review, and Electronic Book Review.  His fiction appears in various journals every now and then. Przewalski’s Horse and The Million-Year Centipede are his fifth and sixth published novels. Two more, Nin & Nan and The Unwelcome Guest are scheduled for fall publication by Six Gallery Press.

Jennifer Karmin is a poet, artist, and educator who has experimented with language throughout the U.S. and Japan. She curates the Red Rover Series with fiction writer Amina Cain and is a founding member of the public art group Anti Gravity Surprise. Her multidisciplinary projects have been presented at a number of festivals, artist-run spaces, community centers, and on city streets. Jennifer teaches creative writing to immigrants at Truman College and works as a Poet-in-Residence for the Chicago Public Schools. Recent publications include Bird Dog, Milk Magazine, The City Visible: Chicago Poetry for the New Century, and Growing Up Girl: An Anthology of Voices from Marginalized Spaces.

Series A is dedicated to showcasing experimental writing in the US and the Midwest through readings, discussion and performance. Organized by Indiana University Northwest Faculty William Allegrezza, this series brings exciting authors to the Art Center to share their work.

Recorded Tuesday, July 17, 2007 at Hyde Park Art Center.