Robin Parmar

What's going on here?

This is a FAQ of sorts, where you can find out a thing or two about me. Most of these are actually questions I've been asked at one point or another.

For a more serious view, see my bio. My cv is also available, but likely of interest mostly to potential patrons and clients.

When you've got water stuck in your ear, how do you get it out?

Drill a hole through from the opposite ear.

What are your interests?

Subversions, inversions, coversions, dub versions.

What are you seeking?

The ineffable.

What are your favorite films?

Last Year in Marienbad, 16 Years of Alcohol, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Alphaville, La Jetée, Knife in the Head, Solaris, The Last Wave, Touch of Evil, Three Women, Paris, Texas, Meshes of the Afternoon, Blade Runner, The Double Life of Veronique, The Trial, The Manchurian Candidate, Vertigo, Local Hero, Wings of Desire and several dozen more.

Novels?

These are emblematic: Destroy She Said, Hopscotch, The Atrocity Exhibition, Days Between Stations, The Man In The High Castle and Nausea.

Favourite albums?

Well, ok, I'll bite. But it's going to need it's own article.

What is a koshatnik?

A Russian dealer in stolen cats.

What is a "faction"?

In an attempt to find a new space for creative writing in the hyper-mediated world of the late twentieth century, I began creating what I call "factions", fictional texts composed predominantly of found factual content. Early works include "The Field Guide to the Insects" (The Blue Arm, 1997), a fanciful treatise that mocks the language of scientific catalogues, and "The Genomachine Project" (Cornell University, 2001), which drew on Deleuze and Guattari's concept of the desiring-machine to critique the Human Genome Project.

What is an "archipelago"?

An archipelago is a sea containing scattered islands. I use this term to mean a scattering of texts embedded in a particular context; a cluster without overt pattern but with some as-yet-not-fully-determined connectivity. The context the reader brings to this collection is the axis about which the islands spin.

If you wrote yourself a memo, what would it say?

"Be less self-reflexive."