Lee Ann Brown, an experimental poet, runs a summer think tank in Marshall, the French Broad Institute.

by Janet Hurley . portrait by Matt Rose

The Mermaid parade in Marshall is one of poet Lee Ann Brown’s favorite events—an evening that pushes the boundaries of tradition and imagination in that small river town, just as she pushes language and form in poetry. Her first book, Polyverse, (Sun and Moon Press, 1999) won the New American Poetry Award, and her work has been published and reviewed internationally. A devotee of Oulipo, a French avante-garde movement that seeks to connect poetry and mathematical concepts, Brown thrives on making large leaps—both in creativity and in landscape. During the school year, she’s an associate professor of English at St. John’s University in Queens, New York. She spends her summers in Marshall, where she and her husband, actor/director/filmmaker Tony Torn, tend to their seven-year-old daughter and to the FBI: The French Broad Institute of Time and the River. (Interesting side note: Torn is the son of actors Rip Torn and Geraldine Page.) Located on Main Street, the FBI is an event space and think tank for multidisciplinary collaborations between local, traditional Appalachian and various experimental artists. On July 8, there’s a fashion show. Or, you could sign up to be hypnotized. VERVE had a chance to talk with Brown about her life’s path in math and poetry.

How did you get involved with experimental forms of poetry? Really, I just wanted to express how my mind works. I became obsessed with form and the extremes of language, with trying to write in as many ways as you can. I wanted to push what poetry can be.

So, if you are pushing language and using formulas to create poetry—does that make it more theoretical or exclusive? No, I think the challenge is the tension between using extreme techniques and have the poetry still be about emotion.

And how did you discover Oulipo? I studied with a poet, Keith Waldop, who was very connected with French avante garde practices. His thing was “mistranslation,” a very Oulipean exercise where you translate something based on sound and position in the sentence.

Tell me about your path with poetry—who and what were your influences? Right after I finished my undergraduate at Brown in creative writing and women’s studies, I went to New York and got involved with the poetry project at St. Mark’s church. I got to spend time with Allen Ginsberg and Bernadette Mayer (both experimental poets). While I was getting my MFA in poetry from Brown, I was a teaching assistant for a math professor, Thomas Banchoff, in his class, Fourth Dimension. I shared his interest in using literary ways to talk about mathematical concepts.

What is the mission of your press, Tender Buttons, and how many books have you published? I started it in the spirit of Gertrude Stein, who wasn’t recognized as the genius she was, as is the case for many women. I’ve published 11 books by experimental women poets—and I’ve got a new one coming out soon by an African American performance poet who scores and sings her poetry.

For someone who pushes structure and form, what’s it like to be an associate professor, involved in the academic world? Well, I’ve got tenure! I love it, actually. St. John’s is all about community and service, and I work with students to get poetry into the community, into Queens. I also love to work with children and will be doing a summer camp called Wordplay in August at the Thomas Wolfe House in Asheville.

Tell me about the French Broad Institute of Time and the River? What is it and why is it in Marshall? Well, I’m originally from Charlotte and spent time up here—I love Appalachian music, craft, art, writing…. My husband and I wanted to create a community space where the traditional and the avante garde can co exist—It’s sort of a think tank, too.

To learn more about summer programs and events at the French Broad Institute of Time and the River in Marshall, check out http://frenchbroadinstitute.wordpress.com.