Poetry as Deconversion: W.S. Di Piero and the Performance of the Literary Interview

• In Event: Authoring and Authority in Narrative and Poetry

Abstract

This ethnographic study explores the dialectic of conversion and deconversion in the work of American poet, essayist, and translator W.S. Di Piero. My careful listening to this artist speaking of his work, and my analysis of the rich variety of his experiences, show the universally human, transforming power of testimony and its inherent connection to belief and doubt. Situating one artist’s reflection in the context of a wider cultural ferment, this study draws upon various modes of ethnographic representation, including textual analysis, creative non-fiction, and personal narrative to illuminate the dialogic encounter between interviewer and interviewee in the literary interview.

Author

• Jennifer A. Scott, Grove City College