Patrick Phillips, Watching the Surface for a Sign; Southern Spaces

In this interview, conducted during the 2009 Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) Conference in Chicago, Illinois, Patrick Phillips talks with Natasha Trethewey about his poetry. Subjects of conversation include Phillips' use of autobiography and family history, investigation of the natural world, and the legacy of white supremacy in Forsyth County.

	Part 1 (6:56 min.) Topics: • Family history; Parents' childhood in Birmingham and decision to move to Atlanta. (0:00 — 3:20) • Family dynamics in poetry; the poet as witness; Phillips' sister's presence in his poetry. (3:21— 6:56) RealMedia \| Windows Media \| QuickTime
	Part 2 (8:44 min.) Topics: • Discussion of the poem "Brass Knuckles." (0:00 — 3:29) • Ambivalences of place and family. (3:30— 5:02) • The autobiographical impulse in poetry. (5:03— 8:44) RealMedia \| Windows Media \| QuickTime
	Part 3 (14:31 min.) Topics: • History of Forsyth County; Mass expulsion of blacks in early twentieth century; protest and Klan march in 1987; racism and the image of community in Forsyth County. (0:00 — 14:31) RealMedia \| Windows Media \| QuickTime
	Part 4 (16:02 min.) Topics: • Poetry and social change; ambiguity in poetry. (0:00 — 4:49) • Discussion of "Baptism"; the church and social justice. (4:50 — 9:35) • Disappearing places and southern mythology. (9:36 — 11:23) • Growing up on Lake Lanier. (11:24 — 12:58) • Attempting the poetry of vanished landscapes and histories. (12:59 — 16:02) RealMedia \| Windows Media \| QuickTime

"Watching the Surface for a Sign" is part of the Poets in Place series, a Research Collaboration in the Humanities initiative funded through Emory University’s Presidential Woodruff Fund, in collaboration with the Office of the Provost. Series producers are Natasha Trethewey and Allen Tullos.