Interview with literary bear David Peak, editor of Ghost Factory

April 28, 9:52 AMChicago Literary Scene ExaminerRobert Duffer

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Issue #3, to be released 4/29/09

David Michael Peak wears tight jeans. He also edits and publishes Ghost Factory, “a literary magazine about cultural identity” that is having a release party for its third issue on  Wednesday(4/29/09) at Women and Children First (5233 N. Clark). He copyedits for Leucrota Press, who will be publishing his first novel next year. In his working meanderings as teacher and project manager in the Creative Writing Department at Columbia College Chicago, where he’s finishing up his MFA, he is, to me, not just a peer and a friend but a guru of online literary happenings. Though young in years, David Michael Peak’s grizzly beard and grizzlier demeanor—a sentimental romantic embittered by hollow populist non-literary values—have led him to be called an “old soul” by people who were subsequently barked at. Yes, he’s a little literary bear. Such nonsense not withstanding, David works his ass off, tight jeans or otherwise. And his work ethic, as much as his talent, is an attribute young writers would benefit from modeling

He made time for some Examiner banter before the Ghost Factory release party, and months in advance of the Chicago literary scene losing one talented, promising man-cub to New York City. No worries; we expect bigger and better things from him in the Big Apple.

EX: I haven’t seen you in your tight jeans lately. What’s up?

DP: Wow, these are hard-hitting questions. I don't know, really. I still own lots of tight pants but lately I've been into comfort, so I've been favoring loose-fitting jeans. I often worry about testicular cancer due to its being a young man's affliction. Maybe that has something to do with it? I think I'm in the middle of an identity crisis. Tomorrow I'm going to wear tight pants. I like these questions. Hard-hitting and shit. Keep them coming.

EX: You’re moving to NYC. How do you foresee yourself reacting to the hipsters who sneer at your Chicagoness?

DP: I don't believe in Hip****s. I believe in PBR and I believe in Nelson Algren and Richard Wright. I believe that people who sneer are deformed, or at least look deformed when sneering. Did Bone Thugs 'N Harmony pretend like they weren't from Cleveland? Hell no. It was pride, yo. That was the city they came from (so run run). I, similarly, have pride in where I'm from. And I miss my uncle Charlie. Chicago is the city I love, the city I imagine I'll come back to someday. It's been good to me. You don't forget it when something's been good to you. I will always love you, Rob.

EX: Congrats on your book deal! Pimp it (one paragraph, please):

DP: Thank you.

It's called The Rocket's Red Glare and it's about a civilization of germs who've built their cities on the side of a quarter. They live in constant fear of "the other side" and decide to declare holy war. But dissenters claim that there is no other side, and that the quarter isn't flat, but round, and that declaring war against unknown enemies would, essentially, be declaring war on themselves.

Look for it next spring from Leucrota Press (www.leucrotapress.com).

EX: This Ghost Factory thing: what can we expect?

DP: Expect a solid line-up reading solid writing about a solid topic: cultural identity in the United States. There will be wine and snacks and even more wine and snacks if you show up with more wine and snacks.

EX: You know as much about e-lit mags as Perez Hilton knows shit. What makes a good one? Give us a list of your favorites.

DP: A good online journal needs to balance holding your attention (it's so easy to open a new window or refresh your email once you're on the computer) and having literary depth. It's got to give you that feeling, you know, that you've had an entire world open up for you, in a shorter amount of time. You can't really flex your 5,000 word storytelling muscles in an online journal--you have to be precise.

My favorites right now: Dogzplot, Eyeshot, Wigleaf, and Abjective. Tulip is doing good things. All-time favorites: Smokelong, Pindeldyboz, Lamination Colony, and Elimae. I'm also currently obsessed with the This PDF Chapbook series available at Publishing Genius.

EX: Does GF have such aspirations?

DP: Yeah, Ghost Factory will do something online someday. I don't know when. I'm comfortable printing once a year right now, but soon I'd like to move online. I just don't have the time right now, sadly. I'm not very computer-literate, so that holds me back some.

EX: Favorite brand of jeans:

DP: Levis. Black Levis.

EX: Favorite thing about Chicago:

DP: Concerts at the Empty Bottle or PBR on tap at The Skylark.

EX: Favorite thing about NYC:

DP: The Russian delis in Brighton Beach.

EX: Worst thing about Chicago:

DP: The job market (unless you're in marketing or advertising) and the lack of Russian delis.

EX: Worst thing about NYC:

DP: All the other twenty-five year old kids in tight pants with literary aspirations who leave Chicago behind to pursue their dreams.

EX: Book read the most:

DP: It Happened in Boston? by Russel H. Greenan. A really wonderful book that isn't widely read. It was mismarketed when it was first published in the 60s, went out of print, and was recently reissued. I can't recommend this book enough. It's about an artist who puts strychnine in sugar bowls in hope of gaining court with the Almighty. Perfect blend of funny and serious, and tons of information about art forgery. I think I've read it four times now.

EX: Author read the most:

DP: Three-way split between Joyce, Faulkner, and Kafka. They are the foundation of my reading world. I will go back to them forever. They are the books that beckon.

EX: Biggest editorial peeve:

DP: It's really frustrating when someone submits and clearly hasn't read the journal. I think it's common courtesy. You want to be a published writer? You want editors to take you seriously? Then hold up your end of the deal: read the journals that interest you, see what's being published, ask yourself why. Look at your writing critically, identify what choices you're making and consider how those choices might affect your audience, or sense of audience. Read as a writer and write as a reader.

EX: Do you do pushups?

DP: No. But I think I would if I weren't depressed all the time.

EX: Someday you’re going to look back on this interview and think…(fill in the blank):

DP: Bone Thugs 'N Harmony? Really?