Yuriy Tarnawsky has authored more than two dozen books of poetry, fiction, drama, essays, and translations, including the books of fiction Meningitis, Three Blondes and Death, Like Blood in Water (all FC2), Short Tails (JEF Books), and most recently The Placebo Effect Trilogy (JEF Books, 2013), consisting of Like Blood in Water (revised edition), The Future of Giraffes, and View of Delft. His other most recent book is a collection of Heuristic poems Modus Tollens: IPDs (improvised poetic devices; Jaded Ibis Press. 2013). He was born in Ukraine but raised and educated in the West. An engineer and linguist by training, he has worked as a computer scientist at IBM Corporation and professor of Ukrainian literature and culture at Columbia University. He writes in Ukrainian and English and resides in the New York City area. “The Quarry” is one of five mininovels from The Future of Giraffes.
Excerpts from his novel, "The Future of Giraffes," appear in Issue Fifty-Two of The Collagist.
Here, he answers questions "in the form of excerpts"--with further excerpts from The Future of Giraffes. Enjoy!
What is writing like?
Like hitting a tin sheet with a hammer and then taking these flat forms and turning them into round ones, joining them together…. I’d do it all day long, sitting on my stool and hammering away, and cutting and bending, with no one bothering me.
What isn’t writing like?
Like a silly child’s game. Like a giant malignant tumor under the skin. Like a fierce black bird. Like a black cat. Like a thin red snake. Like nothing.
When you do it, why?
Because it makes a wonderful sound. Because I don’t want to fall into the sky and disappear in it. Because it’s lonely up there.
When you don’t, why?
Because I’m afraid to disappear in it like Jonas inside the whale. Because it’s pitch-black in there. Because no matter how hard I scream it would never be loud enough.