Poet Investigation : Steve Venright
Whenever I think of Steve Venright, I remember his book “Spiral Agitator,” and although I’ve never read it, I can’t help but remember its cover. I’ve always thought of it to portray his “psychedelic” view of things because the cover reminded me of one of those tie-dye shirts hippies wear and get baked in, and after reading a short biography on him, I can kinda see where this idea comes from. Apparently Venright, even before his exposure to surrealist texts, explored deliriomantic states of entrancement in his writing process, which gives me the notion that his writing is definitely abstract. What really confirmed my thoughts on his views of writing is this line in his biography which states:
“My words, at its best, are psychedelic”- Steve Venright
This made really got my brain juices flowing, because I didn’t initially understand what he mean’t by this. After looking into the various definitions of “psychedelic” and “surrealism” I came across the realization that if surrealism is writing based on the subconscious significance of imagery then this psychedelic state Venright speaks of, is the best of his work as a surrealist writer because his writing, being “psychedelic,” is taking the notion of his work being in a state of severe perceptual distortion and an intensified sensory perception fitting the style of surrealist texts in its prime. I wonder if Venright actually got high during his writing process or not, in order to aid him into reaching this “deliriomantic” state, mentioned earlier in his biography. Whether or not if he did, I plan on reading his book, “Spiral Agitator,” just to see what writing looks like if you were either actually high or in a self induced state of high 
