BCC Shines A LIght On: Robert Krut
BCC Shines a Light On:
Robert Krut
Name of the piece published by BCC:
When/where was it originally published:
2018, in The Manhattanville Review
Tell us more about your piece! What is the background of the piece? What led you to write it? What’s your process?
A while ago now, I taught at Georgia State University, in downtown Atlanta. When I was hired, the English Department had just bought out a floor in a nearby office building for “overflow offices” for the newer teachers. While I was initially disappointed to not be in the “main” office hall, I was excited to see that my new home would be an old, early-20 th century building. It was the sort of place I didn’t think existed in real life, with an art deco lobby (a little worse for wear, but that only made it more inviting), elevator with a manual gate, and brass molding along the walls. I would take that elevator on a somewhat lurching ride up to the fourth floor where, because it was newly purchased, only three of us had offices—the rest of the floor was empty. As you can imagine, I frequently found myself strolling through, exploring. In the empty halls, it was a parade of hovering dust in the light through the tall, skinny windows at the end of the way—it felt like walking right into a film noir.
It’s been years since I worked there, but it shows up in my dreams a lot, and a few years back, I had a run of about a week where every night I was in that place again. Then, at the end of those nights, I watched this fantastic short film, which seemed to take place in the same exact spot, with the same lighting, the same tone, the same view—it felt like the key to actually writing about the place.
I’ve been back to Atlanta a number of times over the years, and I often stop by this building when I’m there, and the images in this poem feel real all over again when I stand in the lobby.
How did you feel when it was first published and how have your thoughts or feelings on the piece changed from then to now?
In terms of the publication, I was thrilled to have it appear in the late, great Manhattanville Review, which gave this relatively long poem room to breathe—simply put, I loved the way they designed the issue, and how to poem fit into the contents and style.
As for the piece itself, it initially came out of those recurring dreams--I indulged in, and crafted, all of the images and moments that were appearing there for the poem. Looking back now, it is clear to me that it was infused with a lot of external (social, political) elements that had seeped into that world. Some of those were happening in the moment of its writing, some were happening at its publication, and oddly, some were just ahead.
Is there a specific message you would like readers to take away from reading this piece?
Yes, and no.
What else would you like to tell readers about your writing? (Doesn’t have to refer only to your BCC piece)
Thinking about how this poem initially appeared in a great, but now gone, journal, it makes me even more grateful for journals/sites like yours, which gives pieces like this a new home. I’m sure a lot of writers have pieces in journals, or even books with presses, that are no longer with us. My second book, for example, was with a great independent press that had to close up shop a few years back (luckily, I still have copies). I hope that by places like Bulb Culture Collective putting out these works, new readers will be able to find them.
Where can readers find more of your work? (Website/social media, etc)
My two most recent books can be found here and here; my personal website is here. On social media, I’m on Instagram at @robertkrut.
