“Let’s Say”
Collaborators’ Q&A: What do you think is the role of art in regards to real-world, real-time events? In other words, what makes a “successful” occasional or political piece of writing or art? Poet Bryce Emley: Whatever reaches the people who need it. I think that’s all you can ask for… But I think that kind of art needs to be accessible enough (in multiple senses) to show its face and be felt and at the very least be an emotional bridge to the people who aren’t experiencing the events themselves.
Poet Bryce Emley’s poetry and nonfiction can be found in Narrative, Boston Review, Best American Experimental Writing 2015, december, Prairie Schooner, and others. Photographer Theodore C. Van Alst, Jr. is Associate Professor and Co-Chair of Native American Studies at the University of Montana.