An Interview with Nico Vassilakis
On December 3, 2024, Pulley Press released Nico Vassilakis’ collection, Wondermental.
Wondermental is an amalgamation of musings on the changing landscape — a collection of the ways time passes and people adapt (or don’t) in response to a contrary modern world.
Pulley sat down with Vassilakis to further discuss the collection.
Pulley: Wondermental often plays with form — the poem “So Equals Do” has many smaller poems contained within it, without formal breaks between each. What was your inspiration for this?
Nico: Funny enough, there are no breaks, no pauses, it’s all a nonstop ride that includes everything. And so, my note-taking poem and me were tight for four years. Lots of fragmentarian sound-tweaking going on to make it cadence readable.
This part of the book you ask about plays with a collaged, mosaic structure that works as a patchwork of observations, aphorisms, and non-sequitur images. Each poem within the section can be viewed as a standalone meditation. The titles throughout SO EQUALS DO derive from the organizational listing of landmarks found where I live and what was relatable to the pandemic at the time. An unbroken chain of experiences in a fresh new landscape without a formal pause.
Who are your writing influences? Who inspired you to write poetry?
Nico: People that infected me before the internet: Picabia — the Objectivists — Stein — Guston — Gysin — Cage —Olson — Corso — Oulipo — Einsturzende Neubauten — Hannah Weiner—Morton Feldman — L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E poets — Space/Drums — Dylan —Jabes —MacLow
Things that affected me after the internet were everything and nothing, the visual material of language, the digitization of imagination, the shredding of value constants, and carrying around a portable library.
Pulley: You’ve often described yourself as “bewildered.” What does this mean to you?
Nico: Bewildered, for me, is the sound of a sprung coil that encompasses both ends of response, ranging from shocked misplacement to electric amazement. A country mouse in explosive nature, a city mouse on the 96th floor looking down. Your senses engaging with new data, unprepared for how they’ll be translated. Astonished all the same.
Pulley: What do you most want readers to take away from the collection?
Nico: How exposure to chaos and bliss intermingle to create the soundtrack to a new set of stimuli. A cow’s head is larger than expected. Ladybugs by the thousands are a scourge upon your house. The darkness is immense and the stars are relentless. I am a steward to the timber and neighbor to corn. A survivable adjustment in need of a proper bagel in the middle of nowhere. And, of course, hoping they enjoy the sound and look of words put in close proximity to one another.
Wondermental may be purchased at your favorite local bookstore or online here.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
