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Author Kevin Young Rob Holden: Kevin Young, welcome to ReadersRoom.com. It's a pleasure to have you with us here today! Kevin Young: Pleasure being here. Especially for my first chat! Online that is. Rob Holden: You were asked to be a guest here because about a month ago I got your book Black Maria in the mail from Knopf -- and read it in one sitting! Could you tell our readers a bit about this extraordinary work? Kevin Young: Glad you enjoyed it. The book is a film noir, but in verse -- it has, I hope, the elements of those movies, from a detective to a femme fatale, and a whole underworld of shady characters. I was really drawn to the patter in the movies and how that could be the basis of a whole book. Rob Holden: Now the book is actually a series of many poems that, put together, tell a series of complex, interwoven stories. Can you tell us some of how the concept for this came to you? Kevin Young: Well, the detective's voice came first--almost like a voiceover, telling us about this mystery woman, and also about himself. He's a "soft-boiled" detective. And soon we learn about his love interest, Delilah, who comes to the city to make it big. That's when things get dangerous, like in all film noirs. Rob Holden: The book has a definite 1940's feel to it -- right down to the amazing cover art. Did you find it difficult, at 35, to get into the heads of characters who seemed to exist in a world of 60 plus years ago? Kevin Young: I always really loved that era--it makes some appearances in my previous books, with my parent's families--both from rural Louisiana. Down South. That's where Delilah's from--and we get a sense, beyond all the twists of plot, that she's come to "Shadowtown" not only to be a star, but to reinvent herself, down to her name. Aliases abound in those movies, and in this book too.

Rob Holden: I wanted to touch on Delilah a bit -- while A.K.A. Jones is certainly the "star" of this book, Delilah was, for me at least, the most complex and finely drawn of the characters. Did finding her "voice" present any special difficulties for you?

Kevin Young: Well, I think Delilah's the star--I always wanted to give her the last word. Her voice was tough to get right, but mainly because she's so tough and strong, but also vulnerable. In that way, her voice felt quite personal for me. Delilah also has to remain independent of Jones, and of the mobsters and minions around her, often disagreeing with their view of things. She also gets to sing the blues, which evolved in the writing. I began to feel there was a real connection between the blues and film noir...

Rob Holden: We will get back to Black Maria, but I know a segue when I see one -- and this seems the perfect time to ask about your previous book - Jelly Roll: A Blues. Could you tell our readers a bit about that?

Kevin Young: Sure -- Jelly Roll: A Blues is a book of blues-based love poems. I was interested in what I like to think as the "spirit" of the blues: "laughing to keep from crying," as Langston Hughes put it. Or, as the saying goes, "The blues ain't nothin' but a good man feelin' bad." The blues also "ain't nothin' but a bad woman feelin' good!" So that mix of humor and heartache, and I hope, ragged yet soothing music, is what the poems are after. Even when sad, the blues are joyous--it's good-time music, after all--so the book tried to capture that.

Rob Holden: I read Jelly Roll (which is currently out in paperback) after reading Black Maria, and I kept finding myself wondering if some of the characters in Black Maria had their birth in Jelly Roll?

Kevin Young: Great eye. Yes, in fact--don't tell anyone--in the early stages, what few film poems I had were originally part of Jelly Roll. When I took them out, it was really liberating--and Black Maria became not only its own thing, but began to have a shape and plot. And that's when the supporting "day (and night) players" got cast: The Snitch, The Killer, The Boss. Still, I think of Black Maria as the ending of a trilogy of American themes, moving from jazz to the blues of Jelly Roll, and now, to film noir.

Rob Holden: Now Black Maria is constructed as a five "reel" movie -- complete with voiceovers. Our own film reviewer Critical Jim, The Hit Man would beat me with his fedora and kick me with his spats if I didn't ask you what film noirs particularly inspired you, and how.

Kevin Young: Anything with Bogart, of course: Maltese Falcon, The Big Sleep, and one less mentioned, In a Lonely Place. I also like The Lady from Shanghai and Kubrick's The Killing--both of which have great, nihilistic last lines. Some say The Lady from Shanghai makes no sense--I don't agree, necessarily--or maybe all its double crosses and confusions are what I like. But, once I began to write Black Maria full out, I instinctively avoided seeing them, just so I could focus on getting my own characters down. But I look forward to going on a film tear now that the book's out. I can lift the fedora, as it were.

Rob Holden: I know that you have been touring fairly extensively in support of Black Maria. Is there someplace on the internet our readers can find out where you will be reading/signing?

Kevin Young: Good question--I think it's on the Knopf website. I'm in Chicago now, a good noir town, and in St. Louis next week.

Rob Holden: Before we wrap this up, Kevin, I would like to that Elizabeth Cochrane at Knopf for all her work in making this chat happen! So, can you tell us what is next for Kevin Young?

Kevin Young:Thanks to her and to you! It's been great fun. As for what's next, I'm finishing up some poetry, and maybe even some prose. We'll see. First though, a bit of rest!

Rob Holden: In between teaching of course! Finally Kevin, is there anything you would like to say to your readers who might read this chat at ReadersRoom.com?

Kevin Young: Well, I hope they enjoy the book--if only for how beautiful it was designed! And also, I hope the book is fun and playful; I hope people who might not usually pick up poetry give it a chance, and enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it, getting to know Delilah Redbone and our man Jones.

Rob Holden: Kevin Young, thank you for joining us here today, and all the best with Black Maria and all your future work!

Kevin Young: Thanks again!




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