FRANCESCA KRITIKOS
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WHAT TREES DO YOU PREFER IN THE CENTRE OF BOULEVARDS?
Birch trees—I like their eyes, the way they look back.
WHAT TYPE OF READING DO YOU DO ON TRAINS (OR AEROPLANES)?
I read through my past and map out plot points for my future.
WHAT BUTTERFLIES DO YOU THINK GIVE THE MOST SATISFACTORY PERFORMANCES?
The ones who are migrating to save themselves.
WHAT MOVIE DO YOU WATCH IN SECRET?
I can’t watch movies on my own.
WHAT LITERARY WORKS DO YOU CONSIDER THE MOST UNDER-RATED?
Teenage girls’ deleted Tumblr posts and burnt diaries from circa 2011.
WHAT COLOURS DO MOST FOR YOU AFTER SIX P.M.?
Blue, black.
WHAT ANIMALS DO YOU PREFER TO HUMAN BEINGS?
Pigs. People should feel about pigs the way they feel about dogs.
WHAT IS THE PRINCIPAL DIFFERENCE BETWEEN YOUR STATE OF MIND (MOOD) WHEN READING FICTION AND YOUR MIND WHEN READING HISTORY?
They both drag on and bore me. I’m a poet.
CAN YOU HEAR ANYTHING IN A SEASHELL OTHER THAN THE ROAR OF THE OCEAN?
I don’t hear anything in seashells. I’m not the animal for which they are home.
WOULD WINGS BE AN IMPROVEMENT FOR THE HUMAN BODY?
No. We thrive under limitations.
WHAT MUSIC DO YOU LISTEN TO MOST FREQUENTLY?
Sexy love songs. Right now, Animal Nitrate by Suede, I’m Your Toy by Gene Clark and There’d Better Be A Mirrorball by the Arctic Monkeys.
WHAT TWO HISTORICAL CHARACTERS WOULD YOU LIKE TO BRING TOGETHER?
Sappho and Ono no Komachi.
WHAT ARTICLE OF CLOTHING DO YOU WISH TO BRING BACK FROM HISTORICAL OBSCURITY?
Calvin Klein slip dresses from the 90s.
WHAT BUILDING DO YOU CONSIDER THE MOST BEAUTIFUL IN THE WORLD?
The temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounio.
WHAT SIZE CITY DO YOU THINK THE MOST DESIRABLE?
I don’t know - Chicago’s too small but New York’s too big.
WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE ESSENCE OF FEMININITY?
Playing nice, and wishing others would play nice too.
WHAT WORK FROM A PREVIOUS CENTURY WOULD YOU MOST LIKE TO HAVE WRITTEN?
Play It As It Lays.
WHAT FORM OF AFTER LIFE — IF ANY — DO YOU ANTICIPATE?
Something peaceful and easy. But I fear I don’t deserve it.
WHAT ANIMAL WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE USED AS A MEANS OF TRANSPORTATION IN OUR DOWNTOWN STREETS?
I’d like every animal to walk itself.
WHAT ARE THE MOST OVER-RATED LUXURIES?
Plastic surgeries and makeup. Anything that makes you think you can’t live without it—that you need more of it to return to a baseline level of beautiful or happy or successful—is something that is harmful to you.
WHAT IS THE TYGER IN WILLIAM BLAKE’S “THE TYGER,” PLEASE TELL US?
The man you love.
WHAT QUESTIONS DO YOU THINK SHOULD BE ADDED TO THIS INTERVIEW?
Make people tell you what they buy.
Biographical Statement
Francesca Kritikos is Greek.
Francesca Kritikos is always looking in a mirror.
Francesca Kritikos is always turning away from mirrors.
Francesca Kritikos is shocked by what everyone gets away with.
Francesca Kritikos is the author of the poetry and prose collection SWEET BLOODY SALTY CLEAN (Feral Dove, August 2023).