Steve Davenport, a product of American Bottom, an Illinois floodplain across the Mississippi from St. Louis, is the author of two poetry collections: Overpass (2012) and Uncontainable Noise (2006). He has received a 2011 Pushcart Prize Special Mention in Fiction and a Notable listing in Best American Essays 2007. He keeps a website at gasolinelake.com.
Tim Parrish talks to Steve Davenport about his deep descent into and escape from racism, why writing about people different from you is a risk worth taking, and the necessity of violence in our lives.