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Author Statement
A refusal to be categorized by the oppressor, a found-home in indetermination, Murmurs of the Wastebasket Taxa considers the lives of animals within the harsh, changed environment of the Anthropocene. In Koan poem-inspired vignettes, these animal protagonists call upon their distant ancestral memory and instincts to guide them through displacement in the wake of human progress. Some dwell in entrapment, aquarium tanks and pet store shelves, dreaming of the wild their foremothers were taken from. Others interrogate the names that have been imposed upon them without their consent; trying to glean identity from meaningless Latin words.
The Wastebasket Taxa is a now-defunct taxonomy classification that contained a variety of animals that were deemed impossible to categorize due to their unusual forms. Many Wastebasket Taxa Alums include bats, ferrets, snakes, and a variety of other animals, mainly invertebrates, who puzzled the taxonomists charged with labeling them. The writing form takes inspiration from the Zen Koan poetry and tradition. The goal of the Koan is to guide the reader to ponder and play with the ideas that it presents them with. Each written piece in this collection harmonizes with corresponding mixed media artwork.
The protagonists of Murmurs of the Wastebasket Taxa urge the reader to conjure their ancestral memory and question their categorization.
3 Questions
Chloe Skye Landisman
INK: What most inspires you to write?
C.S.L: Hope and compassion, for sure, guide my pen. I want to create things that bring more empathy into the world for all its residents. Curiosity, taking things that seem strange and alchemizing them into something the reader can ponder, digest, and play with. Encouraging play is huge, because some of my best writing has come from boundless play.
INK: What does your writing routine look like?
C.S.L: My process is slow and sporadic: I sometimes write often and other days only a little. I try to meet my cadence with compassion rather than prodding myself based on what I “should” be doing. Creating anything feels vulnerable, so I must feel appropriately alone to write. I write around 8AM/9PM, when it feels like the world is resting.
I also journal to tidy all the excess gunk in my headspace to make room for writing.
INK: Name a favorite poem you feel everyone should read and why.
C.S.L: “Twelve Questions” by Bhanu Kapil, from Vertical Integration of Strangers, is essential. It’s a set of questions that draws out lovely self-reflection from the reader. Bonus points: if you’re writing, it’s an excellent prompt.
Q&A with C.W. Bryan
C.W. Bryan: In the intro to the book, you said, “A Koan poem is meant to puzzle the reader, creating a simultaneously serious and playful paradox in their mind.” Why did this form feel so important to use for this project?
C.S.L: Koan poems are meant to puzzle the reader and encourage curiosity which was really my goal with these poetic vignettes! I think the Koan-inspired form urges the reader to consider the lives of these creatures that are other by human modernity in a way that is compassionate and curious. Both of which are guiding values of my writing practice. I learned about the form in an Eastern Praxis & Feminist Theory class at Sarah Lawrence College that I took in my senior year and felt so called to use it as a modality for creating that pondering affect on the reader.
C.W. Bryan: Not only is the form you use for each poem unique, the subject matter is also quite niche. What drew you specifically to the Wastebasket Taxa, and what do you hope your readers will take away from learning about it?
C.S.L: The Wastebasket Taxa is so meaningful to me because it was a category where taxonomists lumped all the animals they deemed “Others”. It’s an out-group. I’ve always had a love for animals and feelings of grief for the ones labeled gross or scary. I resonated with the critical theory of the “Other” when I first found the concept in college. As a Queer-identified, chronically lonesome, nineteen-year-old, I found refuge in characters like Frankenstein’s monster who were pushed into the out-group. When I found the Wastebasket Taxa much later through a Wikipedia search rabbit-hole, I knew I could create something to cultivate compassion for those of us (human and animal alike) that have felt Othered. I hope this chapbook helps readers cultivate compassion for the parts of the natural world and its residents that may have revolted them before.
