Stephen Tully Dierks appears on the internet with alarming frequency. In fact, he’s been known to roam around this very blog, commenting with near-abandon. Along with Steve Roggenbuck, he forms the dynamic heroic duo known as the “Steve-Team” where they fight crime in the Chicago metropolitan area. Together they work to bring literature to the internet. Besides this, they show the internet how it itself is a form of literature, with varying degrees of belief and disbelief being displayed by those fortunate enough to live in the internet (such as myself). Flarf is one of many examples.
“Pop Serial” is an art/literary magazine edited by Mr. Dierks. With Pop Serial, Stephen manages to bring together the written and online literary world into a single magazine. Oddly, not many people have tried to bridge that gap. I have nothing but the utmost respect for what Mr. Dierks does so diligently. You can actually go to the Tumblr created on the literary magazine’s behalf. The tumblr serves as a ‘Daily Post’ of online literary happenings. An added bonus is the entire first edition of Pop Serial available for free download.
This isn’t all Stephen does. Besides his tireless support of others he’s also a writer. On his honestly titled blog “What I like is a book that’s at least a little funny once in while” he has some of his poetry available for the reading pleasure of passers-by. You are treated to a vast array of styles, formats, but they are at least a little funny.
I’ll start with the most recent one, a poem he read live at the “Cool Dogs” session. “The Death Section” references famous deaths, such as JFK, but also incredibly stupid deaths, such as the embarrassing ‘death by autoerotic asphyxiation’. We alternate between these two scenarios. Laughing at the idiot who killed himself while masturbating is one thing, but getting shot in the back of a limo while in Texas is entirely different. Part of what makes this poem so interesting is how it requires some participation from the reader to figure out who the line references, if anyone. Watch the clip of Stephen as well; he has a good reading voice.
“I fell asleep during Winter’s Bone” takes up a controversial stance. Here our young lad Stephen talks about falling asleep during the movie “Winter’s Bone” one of the critical darlings of 2010. “Enter the Void” bored Stephen. The mere presence of the lovely Paz de la Huerta gave him hope. Hope existed strongly enough for Stephen to skip through the movie in the hope that such a beautiful American actress would have a ‘nude scene’. He then moves onto movies where she is nude (The Limits of Control) and finally onto a scathing critique of “Broken Flowers”. Unlike Stephen, I am a huge proponent of Bill Murray doing the exact same thing in every movie. Someday I hope a style of acting is created around Bill Murray of staring dejectedly into a camera for roughly one to two minutes.
Everyday Genius published a piece by Stephen called “Serious European Art Film”. The beginning is incredibly, almost farcically bleak. Stephen mocks the slow pacing. In the movie the main character is called Sven. Sven contemplates his dreadful life. We’re reminded it is just a film with Stephen fidgeting in his seat. Once the movie is over we’re brought back down to reality through a stereotypical text message. After all that despair on screen we’re reminded just how mundane and comfortable our lives really are.
Stephen is prolific. Hopefully he continues to encourage others through his literary magazine “Pop Serial”. Thankfully we’re guaranteed to continue seeing him on ustreams.