Review Fix Exclusive: Yasmine Van Wilt Talks ‘Innocence and Awakening’

Review Fix chats with writer and musician Yasmine Van Wilt who discusses “Innocence and Awakening,” a trans media poetry and musical project written by her father, the late Dr. Kurt Van Wilt. Composed of two complimentary parts, a double collection of poetry by Dr. Kurt Van Wilt and a spoken word-Americana double album companion and e-book version adapted from the printed form, it’s a collection that is ultimately a celebration of both America and the human condition.

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Review Fix: What was the inspiration for this book?

Yasmine Van Wilt: This transmedia project is inspired by my father’s research and poetry practice. He wrote these two collections over the last twenty years, and was continually seeking to find new ways to explore how forms and subjects could be humanized. This, although I only realized it in the last few days, after his death, drives both of us. When we began discussing this double collection with his publisher, Paulette Millichap of Council Oak Books, I proposed the idea of making an additional version, an audio version that expounded on his work, that made it more accessible to people who might not ordinarily read poetry but who enjoy audiobooks and who enjoy spoken worked and Americana music. “Hick-hop,” a form of country music that has elements of rap and hip-hop, is, essentially, on the other end of the spectrum of what I’m hoping we have accomplished with this audio version. The poetry, through spoken word, responds to “America”, it is Americana, in the literal sense. And the instrumentation, which I brought in Jesse and Noah Bellamy of Jesse and Noah to engineer and compose, is also Americana. I selected the poems included in the volume in such a way that they tell a specific story; I have imagined them more as symphonic movements rather than tracks. They exist as a complete form, in which the music punctuates and highlights the emotion of the poetry.

My father’s sonnets, which I coined, quotidian sonnets, are utterly unique in that he merges a format that is traditionally considered quite arcane and perhaps even academic, but that he tells stories that are fundamentally human, simple and accessible. He writes about twentieth century America from the perspective of a former naval officer, an observer who has seen the shit of the hyper-consumerist American dream zeitgeist move towards something more ineffable, more complex. These poems are about a man who, through deep contemplation, understand the delicate balance between life and death, between nature and humans. Some of those poems he wrote in the months shortly before his death; they personify death, they place the passage or transition of “beingness” to “nothingness” in quite a shattering, naked, soul-destroying way. Millions of people are facing this same dance; they are, as he did, undergoing chemotheraphy and radiation, becoming acquainted with the complex multi-syallabic names of the plenary of medicines, responsible, in turn, for killing but also keeping them alive. This book is also, especially in the first part, inspired by my father’s devotion to my mother. My mother, a brilliant painter, did the cover. And I edited and executive produced the project. We were very close, the three of us. This project was made possible by our wonderful relationship with Paulette, by our carefully honed process of collaborative working. I read many, many drafts of these works over the years. I saw these volumes develop into their present context.

Review Fix: What was the creation process like?

Van Wilt: I edited this volume in preparation for publication over the last year; it became clear to me that these collections were in dialogue with each other, that they spoke together to a common truth or idea, that their writer was a mystic, a see-er of non-profane things, whose vision for the connectivity of humans and all living things was both subtle and profound. My father was very influenced by William Blake and Rainer Maria Rilke. It is my feeling, and perhaps I am biased, that this book of poetry is of the ilk of Blake and Rilke; this work, is, quite simply exquisite and masterful. My father makes the art of sonnet-writing seem easy; this is not a feat accomplished by many poets. I’d say that this volume also rests alongside great Americana poets including William Carlos Wiliamsand John Updike.

The spoken word volume is exquisite; his voice carries the passion and urgency of a life well-lived but nearing its completion. It is heart-wrenching and moving. The engineering and production are superb. Jesse and Noah recorded this with my father and I in his living room; he was most incapacitated during the final months of his life, and, with great effort, and his last reserves of strength, he sat upright in a chair in his living room for recording; Noah set up the process around this. We ate breakfast, lunch and dinner every day during the process. My mother made a feast, and we all worked. In the evening, Jesse, Noah and I played country standards and composed new work for my father by his bedside whilst he rested and drifted towards sleep. I believe this audiobook reflects the love and care with which it was made. Jesse and Noah are dear friends, of myself and my family. Their father and uncle are mentors to me, and, I believe, my father became a mentor to Jesse and Noah. He taught Cole Bellamy, their younger brother, in college. We’re all deeply interconnected; we share in each other’s craft, we support each other’s work. I have great admiration for all the Bellamy artists. They are a uniquely gifted family. My father was a unique gifted poet.

Review Fix: Who do you think will enjoy it the most?

Van Wilt: I think this will appeal to people who enjoy the work of the great Americana poets. I think anyone who likes to listen to a great book during lunch, or dinner, during a commute or a break will find the meditative and contemplative nature of the audiobook both inspiring and relaxing. The book will certainly appeal to Seamus Heaney fans, to William Carlos Williams devotees, to people who are appreciators of poetry.

Review Fix: How do you want it to be remembered?

Van Wilt: I hope it will be remembered as a contribution to the field of Americana, as a first offering in the spoken-word Americana format. I hope it will inspire those who are now crafting the future of the Americana genre to consider Innocence and Awakening as a piece that not only inspires further consideration about the fluidity of genre, but that also raises the bar for what can be considered accessible. This is a masterful work, an exercise in the precision of craft. I just hope people will remember it. This is my mission—to help people understand my father’s work, to help spread his legacy as a poet.

Review Fix: Bottom line, why should someone read Innocence and Awakening?

Van Wilt: It is engaging and inspiring; everyone who has heard it has felt the urgency and immediacy of its beauty. I believe others will too.

Review Fix: What’s next?

Van Wilt: I am in the process of completing my own spoken-word Americana volume. I will be touching upon many things my father and I discussed in the final months of his life; I have work to do to help further his legacy. I am also transforming some of his poems into song—this was a wish of his. The next Van Wild album will feature a number of these songs, that incorporate his poems. I know Lucinda Williams did a similar work, inspired by her father’s poetry. Perhaps this is a mission of daughters who are artists, who loved and worked with their fathers. I am also continuing the process of collaborating with the Bellamy family. Soon, the single “If You Want”, which I cut with The Bellamy Brothers, will be filmed in music video format. It’s a joy to be able to continue collaboration between our families.