Moncton artist and poet brings his latest ‘Hé! suivi de Icônes’ to the Frye Fest (2011)

Age? I always thought that a meaningful life started around 15 years old. If this is correct, I am 15 years younger than the age I am.

Provenance? I was born in Montreal. Both my parents are Acadians. They decided to move back to Moncton in the 70′s. I have studied in Chicago and lived many years in Calgary which I still consider one of my “homes”. I came back in Moncton in 2008.

Why poetry? Why not!

What was your breakthrough moment? As far as I am concerned, breakthroughs are smaller events dispersed along a longer timeline. They might not appear as significative as one would expect or hope but, their influence is accumulative and their power to shape a larger body of work is undeniable. For sure there are little lights flashing in the dark but as a whole I would tend to see them working in collaboration of one another, in a kind of network of opportunities.

What would you be if you weren’t a poet? I am also a videographer, new media artist, a musician and a performer. That is about all I have time for.

What are you working on next? I am working in many fields at the same time. I have another collection of poetry with my publisher, Prise de Parole, and it should be coming out in the Fall 2011. I am also writing a series of novellas on patriotism and neo-patriotism. That is a work in progress. In terms of festivals I will be participating in the Festival de Poésie de Montréal, in May and the Festival acadien de la poésie in August. I am also participating in the 8e Festival international et Marché de Poésie Wallonie-Bruxelles in June.

I am curating a video exhibition at EMMEDIA in Calgary. The call for submission is open to local, national and international artists. We are looking for videos that address and explore the issues and relationships we have with oil, either politically and/or poetically. The program will be screened on July 12, 2011, which is the one-year anniversary of the capping of the BP well in the Gulf of New Mexico.

I just finished the first semester of my PhD in creative writing at the Université de Moncton.

What place on Earth inspires you and why? Vancouver Island – why – hikes, South of France, obvious.

What place in New Brunswick inspires you and why? Anywhere around the Bay of Fundy, magic.

Secret indulgence? Is this about products? Buying something like toys, eating something like chocolate? Why is it secret anyway. The concept lost on me.

Your favourite hero of fiction and why? None currently but as a teenager, I always liked the poetic qualities of Philémon, a comic from a Belgium artist called Fred. The hero travelled to islands that made up the letters ‘Atlantic Ocean’ on maps and globes. It was like Le Petit Prince on steroids.

What is your greatest extravagance? Being in the arts.

What is your greatest fear and why? Not creating.

Greatest joy? Feeling free.

Your favourite poet on Earth and why? I like many. Blaise Cendrars and in particular his poem : Les Pâques à New York, an amazing text written exactly 99 years ago. Bukowski and his Last Night Of The Earth Poems, Henri Thomas…

What are you reading? I just finished reading Trois Contes de Flaubert – incredible text.

What’s on your iPod? I don’t have an ipod, I have something else with Mexican Music, Boucabar.

What talent would you like to have? I never thought of that, maybe pyramid water skiing?

What is the greatest public misconception about poetry? Outside of music videos, it is sometimes seen as an irrelevant and outmoded form of expression.

Your most treasured possession? Imagination.

What is your motto? I don’t have one.

How would you like to die? I would rather think of how I would like to live and I am working on that.

Editor’s note: You can catch Daniel Dugas three times at the Frye Fest. Wednesday ‘New Technology and the Changing Face of Reading’ roundtable, 12 p.m., Moncton City Hall. Thursday ‘Night Howl’ at 10:30 p.m., City Grill. Saturday, April 30, ‘Frye Jam’ at 10:30 p.m., $10., City Grill.