Interview: Daryl Gussin (Razorcake) Author of The Forgotten Edge poetry zine

I hooked up with Daryl Gussin who is the Managing Editor of Razorcake magazine. Daryl is also a poet & recently published his poetry zine called The Forgotten Edge. Daryl is 40 years old & lives in Los Angeles, California

Stephen) When did you first know you were a poet?

Daryl: In classic imposter syndrome fashion, I'm still not exactly sure. I have this fear that one day I'm going to read a review of my work and it's going to say, "Good writer, fake poet." And I'm just gonna be like, "Yeah, I guess I had that coming." But although I've sporadically written poetry for as long as I can remember, until a few years ago, I mainly focused on writing lyrics for the punk bands I played in. My hope is that the twenty years I spent in bands has given me a unique perspective for what I'm working on now.

Stephen) What does The Forgotten Edge mean?

Daryl:  The Forgotten Edge is the name of a neighborhood between Chinatown and Echo Park here in LA. It's a name that isn't really used for that part of town anymore, but as a big fan of LA history, I was happy to keep the name alive and share its existence in some way.

Stephen) Which is your favorite piece from The Forgotten Edge?

Daryl: That's a really hard one for me to determine, but I will say I kind of thought "Run" wasn't anything special and then someone told me it was their favorite because it felt the most brutally honest and so I included it into my set on this most recent tour I did in November and I started to really feel its power. I'm quite proud of it now. But also, "Milk" might be one of my favorite things I've ever written because it is just so psycho and so fun to unleash on an unsuspecting audience on tour.

Stephen) How many other poetry books / zines have you written?

Daryl: I've done more zines than I can even remember. Someone recently gave me a poetry zine I did in 2006 and it is so fuckin' painful. I had totally forgotten about it. Probably blocked it out because it's so bad. But! I did three different poetry zines in 2024 that I'm extremely proud of: The Hermit Thrush, The Western Stubby, and The Forgotten Edge.

Stephen) What do you wish readers to get out of your poetry?

Daryl: I just want more people to feel comfortable expressing themselves via a creative project. James Norman and I say we travel around the country unnecessarily oversharing to make it feel like a normal thing to do, and if someone were to express a thought or feeling rather than keeping it bottled up because they read my work or saw me perform, I would be absolutely delighted. Art is for everyone, not just "artists."

Stephen) Do you do poetry readings?

Daryl: I definitely do! Nothing booked in December but on January 18th I'll be at The Hi Desert Times in Joshua Tree and January 25th I'll be at Beyond Baroque in Venice. Hit me up if you want me to read somewhere!

Stephen) Who are some of your favorite poets? Inspiration

Daryl: There's these moments that are burned into my head, and I'm no expert on any of these people, but these massive impacts of poetic beauty will always live in me and have been contributed by Rudyard Kipling, and Robert Frost, and hearing Wanda Coleman read for the first time, and watching old videos of John Cooper Clark, and getting a Bucky Sinister book, and downloading a pdf of Revolutionary Letters by Diane de Prima, and watching Raul every month at Book Show, and just spending four weeks on the road with James Norman this year reading every night and all the wonderful poets we get to read with, this world is full of inspiration, sometimes you just gotta dig around for it.

Stephen) Thank you Daryl for sharing your thoughts. I find this poetry thought provoking & definitely on the edge. Well worth your hard earned money.  

Readers know they can pick up a copy of these cool poetry zines called The Forgotten Edge,  The Hermit Thrush & The Western Stubby from Current Phonograph

Go ahead Daryl Gussin...have A Cigar !!!