Larry McCaffery and SInda Gregory meet with Ron Silliman at their house in San Diego to discuss his work. The interview begins with Silliman’s history, how he decided to become a writer, his formal education and his influences. From there, the interview ranges much around Silliman’s specific works and what they should be classified as, with Silliman preferring the term “prose” rather than fiction. There is considerable discussion on the forms that Silliman’s works take and the influences that help mold those forms. Silliman goes into detail about several of his projects and the various ideas that formed them. Silliman discusses many other artists, including poets, philosophers and composers whose works are similar or provide inspiration. An edited version of this interview appears on pages 240-256 of Alive and Writing: Interviews with American Authors of the 1980s, ed. Larry McCaffery and Sinda Gregory, University of Illinois Press, 1987.
