SOURCE: Mackey, Nathaniel, and Christopher Funkhouser. “An Interview with Nathaniel Mackey.” Callaloo 18, no. 2 (spring 1995): 321-34.

In the following interview, which was conducted on September 3, 1991, Mackey discusses teaching, writing, and the cultural foundations of his poetry.

A few brief and informal conversations, occurring after we met for the first time in 1991, led me to ask Nathaniel Mackey if we could speak more formally about his writing and teaching. He agreed, welcoming the presence of a tape recorder.

The following conversation took place at Nathaniel Mackey's home in Santa Cruz on September 3, 1991. An edited version of our afternoon of dialogue, given the title “Charting the Outside,” was circulated in the November, 1991, issue of Poetry Flash, a northern California poetry newspaper.

At the time of this interview, Nathaniel Mackey had authored two chapbooks of poetry, Four for Trane (Golemics, 1978) and Septet for the End of Time (Boneset, 1983). Eroding Witness, his full...