Go Forth (vol. 2)

Adam Robinson is a poet and publisher of a magazine and a press. I thought people who write and also want to run a magazine and a press would like to look to him for sage words.

—Nicolle Elizabeth

NICOLLE ELIZABETH: Adam, what is Everyday Genius?

ADAM ROBINSON: Everyday Genius is an online journal that gets updated with a new poem or story or drawing or _____ everyday, Monday through Friday. Usually I get someone else to choose all the pieces for an entire month, so the styles change regularly.

NE: How did Everyday Genius begin?

AR: One night I was driving home from work and thought, Online journals are cool, I should do one, and it should be updated everyday, instead of just four times a year or whatever.

NE: How long has Everyday Genius been going?

AR: Since April 2009. The first few months were kind of spotty (though awesome).

NE: What kind of writing is Everyday Genius interested in?

AR: Well, because of the guest-editing system, the interests vary. I think of my role as an editorial curator, choosing people who I think will choose work that is different from what’s been done recently. Like right now, Jackie Wang just put together an interesting month that includes a lot of political, queer, transgressive poetry. In September, Michael Kimball will present what I’m sure will be a more traditional month of unconventional fiction.

NE: Why?

AR: I like to keep it different, because there are so many different things out there, and though I might not be an expert in all of these things, I sense the keen importance of everything.

NE: What is Publishing Genius?

AR: Publishing Genius is a small press. With PG, I publish about four books a year, I think. I’m not sure of this.

NE: How long has Publishing Genius been going?

AR: I started it in earnest in 2006. It was a chapbook publisher initially.

NE: What kind of writing is Publishing Genius interested in?

AR: My whole thing, my entire purpose here, is to find things that make me go, Whoa, how did that happen? I guess I like trick endings, extraordinary storytelling, and stuff that makes me get kind of emotional.

NE: Why?

AR: Because there are a few ideas in the world that I keep coming back to, keep rolling around in my brain. Like, Cat’s Cradle, by Vonnegut. I’m not sure if I read that novel again right now it would affect me like it did when I...