Edward Michael Supranowicz
Oyster River Pages: Why do you write and/or create?
Edward Michael Supranowicz: To create is a strange thing to do, but also a natural thing to do. Art is only a representation of life, but it is also an expression of life. When a piece of art works, it has life, seems alive, is alive, becomes a celebration of life, becomes joy we rarely feel except from love and true friendship.
ORP: What do you think is the best way to improve writing and/or artistic skills?
EMS: Practice may not make "perfect", but it does allow one to keep trying to see or say what one was trying to see or say in the first place, which is probably an iteration of Platonic idealism.
ORP: Who do you consider to be your creative ancestors and contemporaries for your art and/or writing? How does your creative work converse with theirs?
EMS: We all are influenced by what we see and hear or are exposed to, the degree of which can vary widely and is often beyond specificity or explanation. But the two artists whom I took the trouble to read their biographies were Modigliani and Gorky. Both had great passion and despair, qualities which can create beauty but which are also dangerous, can harm oneself or those around one.
ORP: What books have you read more than once in your life?
EMS: I used to read about 200 books a year, but not so much anymore. I do not often read the same book again, but will seek out others by the same author. The one author whose books, several of which, I have reread is Kurt Vonnegut. His sense of humor and irony, and gentle disgust with human folly line up with my own experiences and perspectives.
ORP: How do children influence your art and/or writing? If you’re a parent, do your children like your art and/or writing?
EMS: Once when a child told me something was silly, I asked what the word meant to her. She replied that silly was when people wore socks on their heads. And she was right—there are a lot of people in the world who wear socks on their heads.
ORP: What does vulnerability mean to you as an artist and/or writer?
EMS: To be open to the world and to people is often to be battered around a bit and disillusioned sooner or later, usually sooner, but is the only way to touch what is in front of one and to see and reach for what might transcend the ordinary and the banal, to hope against hope.
