The Write Stuff: SB Stokes on Re-testing Desire Through the Work You Produce

The Write Stuff is a series of interview profiles conducted by Litseen, where authors give exclusive readings from their work.

SB Stokes' first book of poetry, A History of Broken Love Things, is out now from Punk Hostage Press. He has produced the blog MASS COMMUNICATIONS since 2004 and also can be found on YouTube and Tumblr. He holds a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University and is a founder, event producer and art director for Oakland's free, annual literary event, Beast Crawl, which happens Saturday, July 12 this year.

When people ask what do you do, you tell them... ?

"I'm a bouncer" is my first answer normally, but it depends on the environment and who is asking. If they care about literature or poetry, I'll tell them I write poems and tell them about my book, ask them if they've heard of Beast Crawl. If they're looking for design help, I'll tell them about my editing and designing and art directing skills. Sometimes I'll offer to read them a poem or two, but it really depends on who's asking and where we are at that time.