Grant Peeples lives in a pink house. And he is not a poet who writes poems about his cats. Though a cat does get shot in a poem in My Advice to Pilgrims—after it is found killing a bird at the feeder in the front yard. The remainder of the 92 poems here are, by-in-large, void of gunfire. But all are equally unwavering in their own version of in-your-face-ness; and are patently bereft of nostalgia and sentimentality.
Each poem seems to have its own point. Not so much the kind of persuasive point that is related to an argument, but rather the kind of point that is found at the tip of an icepick. And it seems that Peeples’ intent as a poet is to create a moment in each poem where his readers feel that point—as it touches up against a bubble in their belief system, their assumptions, their understanding of things, or their level of comfortableness in their own skin. Or with their rote version of the truth about things. It would be fair to say that this is a poet who feels it might be his job to push you around some.
There is humor, too, sprinkled throughout the pages of My Advice to Pilgrims, as well as a handful of poems that have an unmitigated raunchiness to them. There is a narrative feel throughout, except in those cases where the poems have a mini-manifesto sense about them. And it is these particular poems that seem to be placed as keys to the other poems, as they reveal Peeples’ views about the world: “I don’t have a philosophy,” he says, “but I do have a system.”
September 2018 marks the publication of My Advice to Pilgrims, a book of poetry from Grant Peeples. The book is the latest from Mezcalita Press. Other writers published by the press include Jonathan Byrd, Rod Picott, Nathan Brown, Beth Wood, and Jon Dee Graham. In addition to writing poetry, Peeples is a recording artist with Gatorbone Records. He has recorded 9 studio records, four of which were produced by Gurf Morlix, the Austin producer known best for producing Lucinda Williams, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Robert Earl Keen, and Slaid Cleaves.
Peeples makes his home in Tallahassee Florida, where he attended Leon High School. He received a BA in History and English at Appalachian State University. He was a co-founder of The Moon, an 800-seat music venue in Tallahassee. In the early 1990s he moved to Little Corn Island, Nicaragua. He built and operated Casa Iguana, an eco-resort. In 2006 he sold the business and returned to his native Tallahassee. His primary influences have been Joseph Campbell, author of The Power of Myth, the poet Robinson Jeffers, the Buddhist nun Pema Chodron, the essayist Joe Bageant, the art critic Dave Hickey, the artist Jim Roche, and the musician and songwriter Bob Dylan. Peeples has been involved with the environmental organization Earth First!He was an ardent supporter of Barack Obama. He has pledged his support to the Resist Movement and the Antifa movement. He calls himself a Leftneck.
