Poet Jason Vasser-Elong discusses the evolution of his poetry collection, shrimp
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I am often asked, “Why do you like poetry and why do you publish so much of it?” and the simple answer is that I have always found poetry intriguing because poets write about themselves, their culture, and their traumas into some semblance of sense. It is an illumination of thoughts, ideas, and dreams that need to be seen and heard. The role of the poet is neither about saving the world nor making it beautiful, rather, it is about building bridges of meaningful expressions. This is what poet, professor, and anthropologist Jason Vasser-Elong does with his poetry; he searches for the meaning of cultural identity, and his place in the world. While 2Leaf Press published Vasser-Elong’s first book, the poetry collection shrimp in 2018, the book continues to resonate.
In fact, shrimp is more than a book of poetry, it is the result of a carefully researched story based on the origin of his being beginning in Africa (Cameroon), throughout Europe (mostly Portuguese), and the slave trade to the convergence of Native American, African and French culture in St. Louis, Missouri. Throughout shrimp, Vasser-Elong transmits the human values and worldly knowledge that are essential to his artistic literary creation that transcends beyond language, beliefs and cultures. In this interview, I asked Vasser-Elong to share how cultural identity played a role in his book, and in society today. ~Gabrielle David, Publisher
What inspired you to write shrimp?
Shortly after getting accepted into the Master of Fine Arts (MFA) program at The University of Missouri – St. Louis, I attended a reception for newly admitted graduate students. While there, someone asked me why I was pursuing a degree in English, and I explained that I did so because there was a time when black men could be killed for learning to read and write, so why not use this tool to educate myself and others.
shrimp is a collection of poetry that analyzes identity in a post-colonial context. I had always been interested in the African in my American. I can remember watching National Geographic, PBS, and other educational programming as a child, and being absolutely taken with shows on African Cultures, being especially drawn to the traditional garments, the food, and language of the featured dark-skinned people. It was in those moments that led me to question where my family’s story began. And so, overtime I came to understand that the scientists studying those Africans were anthropologists, and anthropology (the scientific study of humans) became my major in college, with an emphasis on African Diaspora Studies. Part of my quest for knowledge held my own ancestry at its center, because why not study the culture (s) from which I came.
So, looking into a mirror and questioning what I saw inspired me to embark on writing what would become my debut collection of poetry and the benchmark from where my research continues to grow.
Explain the book’s title?
The title pulls from three threads, the first referring to history. Using DNA analysis (African Ancestry), I was able to trace my maternal ancestry to the Bamileke ethnic group in Cameroon, and my paternal ancestry to Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands, and Britain. We learn, from the historical record, that the Portuguese initiated the trans-Atlantic slave trade. In their travels up and down the African coast, they followed the large (prawns or shrimp) up the Wari River and so named the region Camarão (Portuguese for large prawn or shrimp), better known now as Cameroon.
The second thread is metaphor. Shrimp are one of the scavengers of the ocean floor, but for me, they are protagonists in my story in which the hero picks up pieces of the past to put it back together.
Additionally, throughout my life I’ve been literally called a “shrimp,” which is demeaning to me, because often when my height is mentioned, it’s meant to put me down in some way. But with my debut collection, I stand up in ways that explain what it’s like to be different, therein lies the thread of experience.
And so, while using history, metaphor, and my experiences in life, shrimp just made sense as the title for my debut collection. It captured the essence of the things that have made me who I am.
“Elong,” where did you get that name and what is its significance?
After tracing my maternal ancestry to the Bamileke in Cameroon, the child that watched National Geographic, within me resurfaced with many questions, eager to learn as much as possible about the culture. I then searched the internet for organizations that connected African Americans to people with whom they shared ancestry and came across Roots to Glory Tours, a Maryland based black-owned company that performed naming ceremonies; I was still in graduate school at the time. I became a member of the Cameroon American Council (CAC) and was contacted via phone by a woman, who introduced herself as Princess Patience, who was raising money for a community event involving CAC and other African based organizations, and I made a sizable contribution. I soon after scheduled my naming ceremony and booked a flight to Silver Spring, Maryland to take part and celebrate Pana-Fest, an African festival which showcased many cultures of Africa.
Once in Silver Spring, Maryland, I was hosted by Ada Anagho Brown, the executive director of Roots to Glory Tours, a woman around the same height as I am, who also shared with me Cameroonian ancestry.
Upon our arrival to the Fon’s (King’s) home, I was warmly greeted by many people and as they made their way about to greet me, an older woman reached out her hand to me and introduced herself as Princess Patience and no sooner than replying that my name was Jason Vasser, she gave me the biggest hug and then raised her voice to all that I was the one who donated all of that money. We were both in tears. I then learned that her highness was the person that found my name for me, “Elong,” which in short means “the perfection” but goes on to mean that “Elong are affectionate and have a positive, radiant image. They are innocent and remain happy even through difficult times. They help others.” That weekend, I assembled my MFA. thesis “Shrimp” on the hotel floor, which later became my debut collection of poetry.
Do you have a favorite poem in the collection?
I am glad to have written shrimp and many of the poems therein have their own power. But if I had to pick one, it would be “Reason” it’s a short poem at the beginning of the collection that is shaped in the continent of Africa which reads “I knew my name and where I lived, but not who I was or where I was from.” This poem, in my opinion is the thesis of the work itself, the very reason I embarked on this journey of discovery in the first place.
On a grander scale, how does culture shape our identity, and given the social turmoil we are currently experiencing, what role do you believe cultural identity will play as we begin to address the challenges we face today.
Culture is learned and shared. It is as immediate as what we eat, how we speak, and dress, but it is also as abstract as the rituals and traditions used to celebrate and experience life. All of these practices are passed down from generation to generation. Culture instinctively shapes who we are, but I think it also shapes who we become as well, as more about our cultures are learned and appreciated.
Displays of cultural identity will become the faces we see in the media, the voices that speak out about years of oppression and struggle. It may reveal itself for example as groups of African American men in suits and ties, marching together in mass, or it could be a Pow Wow in which hundreds of Native Americans dressed in traditional regalia share parts of their culture with the world. It could even be a march organized by children to voice that their lives matter just as much as adults. However it shows up, I believe that cultural identity, as a concept, will display in ways people address systems of institutionalized racism and will be the catalyst for how justice will be demanded from those systems. As the world wakes from the historical narrative, that for years has negatively depicted peoples of color as lesser than, a new story, a true story will take shape. But this time instead of the conqueror, it will be the conquered that paint the narrative. Giving the truth about their lives and those affected by systems that didn’t have a place then, putting them in their proper context now.
How did the writing of and subsequent publication of shrimp made you see yourself and the world differently? Did any of the stories you told in shrimp beckon you to stories you had not foreseen when you wrote the book into new projects?
Oh wow, shrimp was an accumulation of poems that I wrote while completing my master of fine arts degree at the University of Missouri – St. Louis. It is a collection of poems that I had to write at that time, because I struggled with how the world saw me and I needed a way to express those feelings of anger and frustration and loss. But I also have been blessed with experiences that helped me make sense of the world, and those poems needed to be included as well. I wrote shrimp in the midst of many transitions in my life. The weekend I received my name “Elong” from the Cameroon Royal Council, I was literally assembling the pages of my book on the floor of my hotel room. There were pages sprawled out all over the place. I had everything from my workshop notes from colleagues in graduate school, to my own notes and editing suggestions. For the first time, I saw myself as someone in conversation with some of my literary ancestors and like them I knew I had something to say.
There were several stories that challenged me to write differently than I had been used to. Traditionally I wrote short poems, but in shrimp, I experimented with longer forms and even narrative poems. “Ethnographic study: short people in a circle” is one of those poems that sort of spilled out of me. I cared more about telling the truth about my experience, instead of how the reader would react or what questions they would ask themselves while reading. I just wanted to tell the truth, my truth, and writing shrimp allowed me to do that in interesting ways. I equally enjoyed playing with form. I had fun writing “Labyrinth,” playing with lines and creating something different, at least for me. I have hence seen that type of form in other writers like Jericho Brown, and I was happy to see that maybe I was onto something creative.
What’s next?
I am working on a collection of creative nonfiction while still writing poetry as well. What’s exciting for me though, is that I can see growth in my writing, in terms of content, but also in style. I am writing longer poems and essays and the work feels closer to me now than ever before. Many of the poems in shrimp represent me as a writer testing the water of what’s possible. But in my current work, I am swimming in ideas, just as excited as I was years ago about the possibility of adding to the conversation, looking ever onward to what lies ahead.
Visit Jason Vasser-Elong’s website at http://jvasserelong.com.
shrimp is available on major online outlets and on our distributor’s website, University of Chicago Press. Paper $16.99 ISBN: 9781940939674; eBook $6.99 ISBN: 9781940939940. Published April 2018, 174 pages. To order review or exam copies call (773) 702-7109 or email orders@press.uchicago.edu. For interviews or speaking engagements contact gdavid@2leafpress.org.
