Wombwell Rainbow Interviews

I am honoured and privileged that the following writers local, national and international have agreed to be interviewed by me. I gave the writers two options: an emailed list of questions or a more fluid interview via messenger.
The usual ground is covered about motivation, daily routines and work ethic, but some surprises too. Some of these poets you may know, others may be new to you. I hope you enjoy the experience as much as I do.

Jack Foley

has published 15 books of poetry, 5 books of criticism, a book of stories, and a two-volume, 3,000-page  “chronoencyclopedia,” Visions & Affiliations: California Poetry 1940-2005. He became well known through his multi-voiced performances with his late wife, Adelle, also a poet. Many of these are on YouTube. Since 1988 he has presented poetry on Berkeley, CA radio station KPFA. In 2010 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Berkeley Poetry Festival, and June 5, 2010 was declared “Jack Foley Day” in Berkeley. In 2018 he became the recipient of the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award. His recent publications include EYES (selected poems); The Tiger & Other Tales, a book of stories; Riverrun, a book of experimental poetry; and Grief Songs, a book documenting his grief at the death of his wife. He currently performs poetry with his new life partner, Sangye Land.

Jack Foley and Sangye Land featuring at Sacred Grounds Cafe, September 2018.

Jack Foley

The Interview

When and why did you begin to write poetry?

I had come to my hometown, Port Chester, NY, in 1943; I was three years old. When I left to go to college in 1958, I understood myself to be a poet. My essay, “Home/Words,” in my book, Exiles (1996) deals with the moment at which I discovered poetry. It was 1955; I was fifteen.

Someone—probably a teacher, very likely Angela Kelley, who was Italian but who had married an Irishman—suggested that I read Thomas Gray’s 18th-Century poem, “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” (1751). I have no idea why the teacher thought the poem would appeal to me. Certainly I was interested in writing at that time—Thomas Wolfe’s Look Homeward, Angel was my great example—and I had written some songs (lyrics and music), but I didn’t believe I had much interest in poetry. I thought it very unlikely that I would have much interest in Gray’s poem, but I looked it up in the library and took it home:

The curfew tolls the knell of parting day,
The lowing herd wind slowly o’er the lea,
The plowman homeward plods his weary way,
And leaves the world to darkness and to me.

Wolfe’s word, “homeward” was in the very first stanza!

To begin with, the poem seemed to me the most beautiful sound I had ever heard. It affected me so deeply that I wanted it to have come out of me, not out of Thomas Gray, and I immediately sat down and wrote my own Gray’s “Elegy,” in the same stanzaic form and with the same rhyme scheme as the original:

I see the night—the restless, eager night
That spreads its shadow softly on the day,
And whispers to the sun’s red, burning light
To vanish like a dream and pass away.

I see the night—the darkened mist of night—
And feel the velvet sorrows mem’ries bring;
September’s leaves have fallen, old and bright,
And autumn’s winds have blown the dust of spring.

I think of days long past, and gone, and dead,
Of all the ancient, withered hopes I’ve had….

Etc. Unlike Gray, I took myself as the subject of my elegy. But its mournful tone—and words like “mem’ries”—was directly traceable to him. I understood the state of mind named in Gray’s “Elegy” to be the state of mind of poetry itself; and in reacting so deeply to it, I understood myself to be a poet.

It was by no means a simple state of mind. It had to do with the enormous power of words not merely to reflect but to create a “reality,” a “mood” which moved me away from the daylight world in which I ordinarily functioned and had identity: “I see the night….” In some ways Gray’s lines hinted at sexuality—surely an issue for me at that time. His rose “blushes” and, virginal, “wastes its sweetness on the desert air”; he writes of “the dark, unfathomed caves.”

Speaking the words aloud let me experience them physically, with my own breath, coming out of my own body. In this situation, mind and body seemed not to be at odds: thought seemed sensuous, sensuality seemed thoughtful. Self and other were joined here too. Thomas Gray was a long-dead poet of the 18th Century. It was his mind that was being expressed in his elegy. Yet his poem seemed to be expressing my own inmost thoughts. It was almost as if Gray’s passionate words had allowed him to be reincarnated in my body.

There was of course a “real” Thomas Gray, a man who actually existed and who did a number of things beside write poetry. The Gray I was experiencing was not that person but Gray the poet, the bard. Aspects of both our lives seemed suddenly to fall away, to be of little consequence. What did it matter who the man Thomas Gray was? What did it matter who I was—born in New Jersey, growing up in New York? My powerful reaction to Gray’s words allowed me to recognize not only who he was but who I was: I “was” a poet. And to “be” a poet meant to be transformed, to move away from the person who lived at 58 Prospect Street and who was 15 years old and who had a mother named Juana and a father named Jack. Poetry offered me another identity, that of the poet; and, in so doing, it offered me another “home”—that of words. The life I led “at home”—“in my house”—was one thing; the life of words was another: Look homeward, Angel!

Thomas Gray’s poem offered me another state of mind, a state of mind that was far more expansive and open than my ordinary state. But once the “spell” of the poem was over, it was over. How to return? It seemed to me that there were only two ways: one was to read poetry; the other was to write poetry.

Gray’s poem was a kind of baptism. It was at that moment that I discovered that I had two homes—the home of words and the home of the world. But a person with two homes can be understood as an exile.

2. Who introduced you to poetry?

Thomas Gray (December 26, 1716-July 30, 1771).

3. How aware were and are you of the dominating presence of older poets? 

Are you speaking of notions of Harold Bloom’s “precursor poet”? Why does “the presence of older poets” have to be “dominating”? I found older poets to be doors into areas of consciousness that I greatly desired to inhabit. Shelley? Let me see if I can get there. (Every time I mention a leaf in a poem, Shelley’s “Ode to the West Wind” is present, encouraging me.) Yeats? What brilliance! Dickinson! Whitman! I wrote this about Whitman’s great poem, “Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking” (1859):

I don’t think there is another poem
More unique
And, simultaneously,
More representative of
What we may call the American spirit
Than this amazing
Presentation of the making of a poet
Of the transformation of anyone
From childhood to a condition of knowledge
How do we enter the world in a deep way
It is an aria, a performance
Something Whitman saw in the opera houses,
It is a multi-voiced, multi-selved poem in which
All sorts of styles and “voices” are brought together

(Including the hissing voice of the old crone, the sea, and the voice of the bird, “my dusky demon and brother,” “the lone singer wonderful”)

It is a poem about family (the he-bird, the she-bird)
It is a poem about the stunning fact of Death the Opener
And the great representation of the sea (Melville)

(The sea is the openness of consciousness)

It is a nature poem
In which the “outsetting bard” merges with what he sees
It includes Quakers (“Ninth-month midnight”)
And Native Americans (“Paumanok”)

It is Whitman giving himself over to the sheer possibilities of music
As world becomes word (“translating”)

It is an act of marvelous empathy and compassion in the literal sense, “feeling with”

It is a poem about the body and its transformation
Even as Whitman speaks of the soul
It is a poem in which the lorn bird and the transforming boy
Move us to what Wallace Stevens called
A new representation of reality.
This, camerados, is the great mythic moment of American letters

And it takes place not at a desk but outside,
Not as writing but as brilliant spontaneous unexpected utterance.
It ushers in (under the magical multivalent moon, in the presence of the vast, talkative

sea)

Nothing less than the world as song.

“Dominating”? Who would not converse with such spirits if the opportunity presented itself? Isn’t poetry precisely a way of conversing with such spirits?

The idea of being dominated by previous poets makes sense only if one thinks of oneself as a “individual,” only if one thinks of others as possible threats to individuality, to one’s “individual voice.” But I don’t think of myself as an “individual.” The word individual is from the Latin individuus—not divided. In a political context, the notion of the individual makes sense to me: there, the rights of the individual are everywhere to be respected. But if I am trying to understand what is happening in my consciousness, then I find that I am as divided as I can be: I am not individuus, not an individual. I think of myself rather as a multiplicity, an entity of many voices. Bloom admits that his notion of the precursor poet is a version of the Oedipus complex. Bloom undoubtedly had problems with his father. Pound, on the other hand (his father was named Homer), begins the Cantos with the sudden discovery of many voices: “These many crowded about me; with shouting.” For him, those voices are at once a live tradition (others, history, the dead) and a representation of the complexities of his own consciousness, his “personae.”

4. What is your daily writing routine? 

I am fortunate enough to be able to live fairly well on inherited income: no job. Because of that, I can write whenever I like—and I do so frequently. I have no “routine,” just the desire to write whenever those voices pull at my sleeve.

5. What motivates you to write?

The desire to get back into that space that writing opens up for me. I want to feel that way again and—as Gray did for me—I want to find ways to allow others to feel that way too. I have no name for that space, but it is an illumination and a “higher” consciousness than I ordinarily experience. Rilke wrote, Du mußt dein Leben ändern (You must change your life). Perhaps Whitman’s term, “song” is as good a name for it as any. I wish to re-enter the condition of song.

6. What is your work ethic?

If I had been brought up Protestant, I might feel that I ought to have a work ethic. But I was a Roman Catholic—not that I am a believer any more. As an ex Roman Catholic, I don’t think I need to have a work ethic. Do you have one? Pleasure motivates me: the experience of song is immensely pleasurable. People say, “No pain, no gain.” I would rather say, “No pleasure, no treasure.”

7. How do the writers you read when you were young influence you today?

I discovered the “older poet” Thomas Gray in 1955. It’s 2019 and I’m still talking about him. I love that Robert Duncan referred to himself not as an “original” but as a “derivative” poet—and that the word “river” is hidden in that word “derivative.” History lives in language; everyone we have read “influences” us. James Joyce: “riverrun.”

8. Who of today’s writers do you admire the most?

I admire many writers, many of them dead, sometimes recently dead. Would you count John Ashbery as one of “today’s writers”? I loved Carolyn Kizer’s work and knew her. The same is true of David Meltzer and Heathcote Williams. Larry Eigner was a dear friend; so was James Broughton. (I put together a Broughton reader.) I admire Michael McClure, Al Young, Dana Gioia, David Mason, Lewis Turco, Neeli Cherkovski, Jerome Rothenberg, Lucille Lang Day, Marilyn Stablein, Judy Grahn, Ishmael Reed, Maw Shein Win, Kalpna Singh-Chitnis, Robert Adamson, Jan Steckel, Janine Canan, Nina Serrano, Leza Lowitz, Nguyen Phan Que Mai, George Wallace, Amos White, Koon Woon, Helene Cardona, Tom Hanna, Jennifer Reeser, John L. Stanizzi, Marvin R. Hiemstra, Jacob Smullyan, Olchar E. Lindsann-all of whom I know personally and am constantly enriched by. The list could easily be extended. Christopher Bernard. Gregory Vincent St. Thomasino. The two writers to whom I am closest are Ivan Argüelles (who “discovered” me—I’m grateful!) and Jake Berry, both of whom constantly astonish me with the breadth and interest of their work. I have written extensively about them both and find them to be a constant inspiration. “Would to God that all the Lord’s people were prophets!”

9. Why do you write?

There’s a moment in Waiting for Godot when one of the tramps asks the other to listen to his description of a dream he had. The other declines. The first asks, “Do you prefer this?” He gestures, indicating the Universe.

10. What would you say to someone who asked you “How do you become a writer?”

I agree with Ivan Argüelles that “you don’t become a writer.”

It falls on you like a brick.
It falls on you like a feather.
It falls on you like a father.

11. Tell me about the writing projects you have on at the moment.

I recently finished a book of collaborations with the wonderful photographer Wayne Sides. His photos, my texts. It’s called EKPHRAZZ: One of Them Dreams. I’m putting together a book of recent poems, probably to be published by Sagging Meniscus Press. Its working title is When Sleep Comes, though it may be called Shillelagh Law. I also plan to put together a book of my late wife’s work. Sadly, we weren’t able to work on it together. It may be called Early the Next Day. The Sagging Meniscus Press book will have many love poems addressed to my new love, Sangye Land.

DUET WITH MYSELF

 

The function of memory

            My name is Jack

is to soften the blow of death

            I was born

to create the illusion of a self

            far away

though it is also memory

            on the east coast

that creates

            of america

the fear of death

            in a city near the roaring sea

 

This is the function

           I live

of memory:

            now

to soften

            in the far, far west

the blow of death

            near

to create

           the roaring

the illusion

            of another

of self

            sea

 

 

 

Wombwell Rainbow Interviews

I am honoured and privileged that the following writers local, national and international have agreed to be interviewed by me. I gave the writers two options: an emailed list of questions or a more fluid interview via messenger.

The usual ground is covered about motivation, daily routines and work ethic, but some surprises too. Some of these poets you may know, others may be new to you. I hope you enjoy the experience as much as I do.

Voima Oy

lives on the western rim of Chicago, near the expressway and the Blue Line trains. Her writing can be found online at VERStype, Paragraph Planet, 101 Fiction, Unbroken Journal, Vignette Review, Molotov Cocktail–Flash Worlds, Burning House Press, and The Cabinet of Heed.

Follow her on Twitter, too— @voimaoy and #vss365.

The Interview

Attached is the cover photo of the first FlashDogs anthology released in December, 2014. This book is a true labor of love and community.
Here is the link to the FlashDogs anthologies on Amazon.

1. What inspired you to write?

My brother and I used to make up rhymes and stories, inspired by cartoons and TV shows. Stories came first, writing later.

2. Who introduced you to books and poetry?

My mom and dad loved books and reading–I remember The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss, and Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. In elementary school we learned more about poetry and memorized poems, too–One of them was Robert Frost, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening. One boy forgot the words and improvised. It was great!

3. How aware were you of the dominating presence of older writers?

In high school you learn about the masters, like Shakespeare and Keats, Whitman and TS Eliot. We traded copies of Rimbaud and Baudelaire. I discovered science-fiction–writers like J.G. Ballard, Samuel R. Delaney and Ursula LeGuin. In college, I felt a kinship with Dante and the surrealists. They were my teachers, too.

Years later, I joined Twitter and found other writers who were working in short forms. Twitter appealed to me for its brevity–like haiku or telegrams.

4. What is your daily writing routine?

I try to write every day. #vss365 is a good way to start the day. I also keep a journal and many spiral notebooks, nothing fancy.

5. What motivates you to write?

Writing has always been a part of my life, good times and bad. I want to keep learning and growing as an artist and a human being. All kinds of things inspire me–headlines, the weather, a conversation, stones, trees, the moon, rock music, a face on a passing train….

6. What is your work ethic?

Trust the process, and respect the work. Don’t be afraid to experiment. Always be polite and thank people for their time and trouble. Keep sending stuff out. Keep writing and creating.

7. How do the writers you read when you were young influence you today?

I am still inspired by Ray Bradbury and Rod Serling. The brevity and humanity and wonder.

8. Who of today’s writers do you admire the most and why?

I admire the writers of #vss365, the talent, the encouragement, the community.

I am inspired by Mark A. King @Making_Fiction who started #vss365, and David Shakes @TheShakes72. Both excellent writers, and founders of FlashDogs.

I will read anything by Sal Paige @SalnPage , Chris Milam @Blukris and FE Clark @feclarkart. Their writing is always wonderful. AJ Walker @Zevonesque is so talented and a generous writer, too. I love the work of Mary Frances, @maryfrancesness a poet in images and stones. Pleasant Street’s @AreYouThrilled poetry is beautiful and true.

I am in awe of the work of Sean Fraser, @TheatreSean creator of VERStype and author of Zoë. It is a symphony of language, ideas and images.

Mr.John Trefry, @trefryesque an extraordinary writer and founder of Inside the Castle Press.

David Southwell, @cultauthor wonderful writer and guide to Hookland @HooklandGuide

James Knight @badbadpoet His writing and artwork astonish me.

There are publishers and magazines–Burning House Press, Influx Press, Inside the Castle.

9. Why do you write, as opposed to doing anything else?

Writing is freedom to me. Stories are a form of resistance in a way, to imagine possibilities, and create new realities.

10. What would you say to someone who asked you “How do you become a writer?”

Just write. Twitter is a good place to start. The #vss365 community is very encouraging and supportive. You can learn from them. You can find many places to send your writing on Twitter, too.

Don’t be discouraged or intimidated. Read all kinds of things. Pay attention. Be part of the world and other people. Keep writing and creating.

11. Tell me about the writing projects you have on at the moment.

I’m doing a continuing story on #vss365 every day for over 2 years. It’s like a comic strip with a large cast of characters. Maybe I’ll collect all the different characters into Twitter Moments one of these days. I’m also working on flash fiction, and thinking about stories without word limits or deadlines. We’ll see…

Wombwell Rainbow Interviews

I am honoured and privileged that the following writers local, national and international have agreed to be interviewed by me. I gave the writers two options: an emailed list of questions or a more fluid interview via messenger.

The usual ground is covered about motivation, daily routines and work ethic, but some surprises too. Some of these poets you may know, others may be new to you. I hope you enjoy the experience as much as I do.

Kevin Ridgeway

lives and writes in Long Beach, CA. He is the author of six previous chapbooks, including ‘All the Rage’ (Electric Windmill), On the Burning Shore (Arroyo Seco) and Contents Under Pressure (Crisis Chronicles). He is co-author of the book, A Ludicrous Split (alongside poems by Gabriel Ricard, Alien Buddha Press). Recent work has appeared in Slipstream, Chiron Review, Nerve Cowboy, Up the River, Plainsongs, San Pedro River Review, The American Journal of Poetry, Main Street Rag, Lummox, Big Hammer, Cultural Weekly, Spillway, Hobo Camp Review and So it Goes: The Literary Journal of the Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library, among others.

https://www.analogsubmission.com/product/smile-until-you-re-alive-enough-to-be-dead-by-kevin-ridgeway

The Interview

1. What inspired you to write poetry?

Girls and rock and roll music.

2. Who introduced you to poetry?

My older brother who studied Shakespeare and other classic poetics in his youth–he left them behind when he went to college and I found a teacher and an inspiration in those books. I also used to think “Red Wheelbarrow” by William Carlos Williams was a piece of shit and that I could do better. I was wrong, but here I am twenty years later releasing the poems I write these days out into the loud and scary world we live in, where poets are bullied on school campuses and at coffee houses everywhere. And are now grown ups in an assault of words.

3 How aware were you of the dominating presence of older poets?

I live in Long Beach, CA, and my poetry elders here are people like Dr. Gerald Locklin, Fred Voss and Joan Jobe Smith–they let themselves be known and heard. I’m fortunate to see these people read their work in person–it’s an inspiring environment to be in.

4. What is your daily writing routine?

I get up at 5 every morning to write until 8 each morning. I work on new poems, revisions, correspondences and the management of my submissions out to magazines and journals. And the end of the day–730 pm to midnight–reading and writing until sleep.

5. What motivates you to write?

My monkey brains and the poems of other poets.

6. What is your work ethic?

The harder you work at your craft and the more often that you work at it, the more likely you are to grow and thrive creatively and within the parameters of one’s chosen genre of literary craft. I am known as a prolific writer and I take great pride in that because I work hard to make my words at least work, let alone sing off the page. I consider important to keep practicing for that great gem of a poem or master work few are lucky to ever realize in a revision that’s published, read and remembered by readers. Poems like Red Wheelbarrow

7. How do the writers you read when you were young influence you today?

They are in my head, always. I absorbed them and they are like angels and demons doing a punishing dance on my shoulders.

8. Who of today’s writers do you admire the most and why?

Tony Gloeggler is the best poet around these days, for me as a reader. He writes excellent and gorgeous narrative poetry that has such great realism and brush stroke accurate attention to detail. He writes about his youth in the 60s and 70s in ways that enthrall, surprise and beat the hell out of me. Even his line breaks are the very best–I geek out on line breaks. I dig Dr. Gerald Locklin, Fred Voss, Joan Jobe Smith, Clint Margrave, Bunkong Tuon, Ted Jonathan, Alan Catlin, John Dorsey, Daniel Crocker, Rebecca Schumejda, Wendy Rainey, Curtis Hayes, Bill Gainer, William Taylor,Jr., Steve Henn, Francesca Bell and Alexis Rhone Fancher, to name just a few.

9. Why do you write, as opposed to doing anything else?

Writing is easier than painting, which I am terrible at even attempting. My doodles are good. I’m better off typing or with a pen in my hand. Not much else.

10. What would you say to someone who asked you “How do you become a writer?”

You don’t. You’re born one. Even if it lies dormant in you, you are born one. I was born to be a writer.

11. Tell me about the writing projects you have on at the moment.

Right now the hot thing on my street corner is the forthcoming publication of my debut full length book of poetry “Too Young to Know” from the great Stubborn Mule Press. It involves poems about my origins, some of my struggles and lots and lots of death thrown in for good measure. It adheres to Frank Zappa’s theory of conceptual continuity, which is important to me. I look forward to promoting it.

I have published nine chapbooks over the years. A Ludicrous Split (2018, a split with Gabriel Ricard, Alien Buddha Press) and Smile Until You’re Alive Enough to Be Dead (2018, Analog Submission Press, UK) are my two latest and greatest.

Wombwell Rainbow Interviews

I am honoured and privileged that the following writers local, national and international have agreed to be interviewed by me. I gave the writers two options: an emailed list of questions or a more fluid interview via messenger.

The usual ground is covered about motivation, daily routines and work ethic, but some surprises too. Some of these poets you may know, others may be new to you. I hope you enjoy the experience as much as I do.

Karlo Sevilla

writes from Quezon City, Philippines and is the author of two poetry collections: “Metro Manila Mammal” (Soma Publishing, 2018) and “You” (Origami Poems Project, 2017). He has more than a hundred poems published in various literary magazines and platforms worldwide, including Philippines Graphic, Eclectica, Radius, The Ramingo’s Porch, The Broken Cassette, Poets Reading the News, Rue Scribe, and elsewhere. His literary work has earned accolades among publications and award-giving bodies in his home country and abroad. He currently studies for the Sertipika sa Panitikan at Malikhaing Pagsulat sa Filipino (Certificate in Literature and Creative Writing in Filipino) program of the Center for Creative Writing of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, and is a member of Rat’s Ass Review’s online poetry workshop.

Book: https://www.amazon.com/Metro-Manila-Mammal-Karlo-Sevilla-ebook/dp/B07CRN1FTK

Twitter: https://twitter.com/KarloSevilla

Blog: http://karlosevillaofquezoncity.blogspot.com/2016/10/s-list-of-published-poems-all-with-links.html

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/karlo.sevilla

The Interview

1. What inspired you to write poetry?

Three of my English teachers throughout high school, who each expressed appreciation for some of my poems. And poetry books, particularly Joe Pintauro’s “Kites at Empty Airports,“ which copy I bought one grey and lonely afternoon in the late 80s or early 90s, also way back in high school.

2. Who introduced you to poetry?

I am certain my mother’s lullabies and my first nursery books introduced me to poetry – the end-rhyme kind.

3. How aware were you of the dominating presence of older poets?

They’re always in my conscious and subconscious state of mind when I write, and their lives and words always inform, inspire and challenge.

4. What is your daily writing routine?

I have ADHD, which may be the reason that I don’t exactly have a daily writing routine. Let’s just say that most days of the week, I either complete writing a poem or come up with lines in my head that I eventually write down to use in one.

5. What motivates you to write?

Among other motivations and reasons, it’s the poetry community, as I constantly yearn to prove that I rightfully belong here. That I work on an art form and share the fruits of my labour with a worldwide community which members do the same. And in solidarity, I should be a proud and responsible member of this community.

6. What is your work ethic?

Read and write passionately as often as possible. And I really try to do these on a daily basis – with varying degrees of success.

7. How do the writers you read when you were young influence you today?

I’m not inclined to pinpoint what aspects of my poetry are influenced by the writers I read in my younger years. Perhaps if I study more on literary theory I can be more confident and articulate, and put an “academic” label on any influence on my poems, or their parts, by any particular poet. Suffice to say that I’m certain the following poets whose works I’ve read and admired in my late teens to early 20s continue to influence my writing style: Joe Pintauro, Dylan Thomas and Pablo Neruda (among others).

8. Who of today’s writers do you admire the most and why?

For now, let me mention three young Filipino poets: Kristine Ong Muslim of the enchantingly disturbing prose-like poetry, Anne Carly Abad whose poems I find bittersweet and accessible, and Henrie Diosa Jimenez who makes a personal playground of words and is an utter delight to read.

9. Why do you write?

Mortality: I think I have some beautiful things to share via the written word and I’m compelled to write as much as I can until death or incapacitating disability – whichever comes first – “kindly stops for me.”

10. What would you say to someone who asked you “How do you become a writer?”

My parents and teachers instilled in me the love of reading, then the latter encouraged me to write, and I took it from there. (For those who claim that they were never encouraged to read but want to write, then let me help with this old advice: read and write.)

11. Tell me about the writing projects you have on at the moment.

I plan to finish the longest poem I’ve ever written before this year ends. And, I’m trying to get a short collection published via any reputable poetry chapbook contest. If it doesn’t win any, then I’ll go the traditional route of approaching a prospective publisher.

Wombwell Rainbow Interviews

I am honoured and privileged that the following writers local, national and international have agreed to be interviewed by me. I gave the writers two options: an emailed list of questions or a more fluid interview via messenger.

The usual ground is covered about motivation, daily routines and work ethic, but some surprises too. Some of these poets you may know, others may be new to you. I hope you enjoy the experience as much as I do.

Iván Argüelles

is an innovative Mexican-American poet. Born in 1939 in Minnesota, he was raised variously in Mexico City, Los Angeles and Rochester Minnesota. He is the author of many books and chapbooks. Notable among his works are: “That” Goddess, Madonna Septet, Comedy , Divine , The , FIAT LUX, Orphic Cantos, and the just published Cien Sonetos. 

Long associated with the “West Coast Surrealists” he also branched out into writing extended works, including epic poetry. He received the 1989 William Carlos Williams Award from the Poetry Society of America for his book Looking for Mary Lou. In 2013 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Before Columbus Foundation. A retired librarian he has resided in Berkeley since 1978.

For more see the Wikipedia article on him. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Arg%C3%BCelles)

The Interview

1. When and why did you begin to write poetry?

I began writing poetry in high school (ca. 1953/54). My father was a Mexican painter who had educated both me and my identical twin, Joe, to become painters, haven given us lessons in drawing and painting from an early age. However by the time I reached adolescence I recognized that if I continued in this artistic orientation my brother and I could come into competitive conflict, which I wanted to avoid. So I made a conscious decision to choose a different path, that of a poet. I had read a bit of poetry, and was quite taken by the Middle English lyric Sumer is icumen in  Lhude sing cucu. I had also taken my first of four years of Latin, and had already been introduced to Vergil (Arma virumque cano ….). I began reading poetry seriously during my high school years, focusing on the moderns, such as Eliot, Pound and Cummings, though my favorite author was James Joyce, whose work Finnegans Wake I considered poetry as well. In the eleventh grade a poem of mine was published in a national high school poetry anthology.

2. Who introduced you to poetry?

I don’t recall in particular that anyone introduced me to poetry. I sort of discovered it by myself, as I was an omnivorous reader and frequented the local public library a lot. One book in particular that I discovered stands out: Modern poetry, American and British, edited by Kimon Friar and John Malcolm Brinnin. I devoured this book and in particular was fascinated with the emphasis on experimentalism, as the anthology included passages from Finnegans Wake, and from Djuna Barnes’ Nightwood. I will say though that my Latin teacher, a crusty but kind Prussian named Ms Naomi Ramer, certainly presented for me the great Latin and Greek poetry in such a way that I became a classics “scholar” for the rest of my life. She encouraged me in my studies, to the extent that when I went to college, I finally decided on Classics as my major. No teacher had a greater influence on me than Ms Ramer.

3. How aware were and are you of the dominating presence of older poets?

When I first really got into writing poetry the dominating poets (for me) were Eliot, Pound and Cummings of an older generation, and Allen Ginsberg and the Beats of the generation just before mine. I have never really felt the presence of “dominating older poets”, and especially today when I myself am an older poet. When I think of “older” poets I consider Homer, Virgil and Dante as dominating my sphere.

4. What is your daily writing routine?

I am a morning person, a very early morning person. I feel most creative after I have just gotten up, and most frequently write a poem before 7 AM. Sometimes a 2^nd poem will occur to me later in the morning, rarely in the afternoon. The poems come to me and out of me pretty fast, and I do little or no revision.

5. What motivates you to write?

The mystery, the enigma of life! What is birth, mind, ego, personality, and more specifically what is death? What are memory and time? Am I myself? and what if anything is the Universe, its origins? There is no adequate explanation for anything, and history and metaphysics do nothing to elucidate the enigma. By writing poetry, by endeavoring to write almost daily as I do, I address these questions and try to put a lyric bent on them. Sometimes a cue from another poet or poem will fire me up, as if riffing in a jazz sense from that particular inspiration. Finally it must be the Muse, that enormous archaic voluptuous and destructive woman, who frequently pushes me over the edge.

6. What is your work ethic?

I do not understand this question, nor what work ethic has to do with writing poetry.

Poetry is written in solitary confinement.

7. How do the writers you read when you were young influence you today?

Some in particular, namely Pound and Joyce continue to influence me for their sheer brilliance and inventiveness. I have re-read these two authors several times over in my life. Others like the Beats have taken a back row. Poets I discovered when I first started writing seriously, such as Vallejo, Lorca or Frank O’Hara continue to have a stylistic influence on my writing. I continue to read and re-read the great classical authors I mentioned above, as well as the troubadours whom I first discovered in high school. I draw on them as mythical sources and lyric inspiration.

8. Who of today’s writers do you admire the most and why?

This is a tough one to answer, since I don’t read a lot of contemporary poetry. A poet I have recently discovered, and were he alive would certainly be contemporary, is the Mexican Mario Santiago Papasquiaro, whose work is authentically wild, experimental and an amazing mix of Vallejo and Ginsberg. Born in 1953 he died tragically in 1998. Though not strictly speaking a poet, the beautiful literary works of the Italian Roberto Calasso are among my favorites. His erudition spans many levels of civilizations and cultures, and focuses principally on the relationship of myth to literature and consciousness. Two works of his stand out: The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony, beautiful interpretations of Greek mythology, and Ka, similar investigations into Indian mythologies and religion. Both of these works are breath-taking in their bringing together the relationships between literature and consciousness. He writes in an arresting and often vigorously lyrical if not poetical style. Two poets, both close associates of mine and contemporaries for sure, John M. Bennett and Jack Foley, I consider as poets of often astonishing experimentalism. Foley, a kind of descendant of the Joyce of Finnegans Wake, exemplifies a stress in the oral tradition of poetry and his “choruses” are inimitable powerful and startlingly lyrical in their presentation. Bennett’s work is quite different, a visual poetry in the vein of so-called “concrete” poetry, his work can seem irritatingly inarticulate but at its best is beautiful and visually often quite stunning.

9. Why do you write?

I think I pretty much answered this when you asked “What motivates you to write?”

It’s in my DNA, it’s what I have to do. At this point having lived a few days shy of 80 years, I don’t know how to do anything else.

10. What would you say to someone who asked you “How do you become a writer”?

You don’t become a writer. You either have it in you to write, by sheer intuition, or you don’t. You certainly cannot become a writer by taking writing workshops or getting an MFA. Becoming a member of the academy with a degree should not give you status as a writer, though nowadays it does. In the past great poets and writers rarely had any association with colleges and universities. They were out there on their own, as it were, experimenting eking out a living and usually supporting themselves by doing anything but writing. The only advice I could give is to read, and read a lot of poetry, understand that there is a tradition, and that there are many poetries mostly in the past and from many different places that have to be discovered and studied and enjoyed. Learn some languages other than your own and read and feel some of these poetries in the original. Then you will realize how inadequate translations can be.

11. Tell me about the writing projects you have on at the moment.

Nothing in particular. I usually write daily 1 or 2 poems. For the past several months I have been writing “long” poems, or poem sequences, rather than single efforts. I have always had a preference for the epic (some of my best published work have been “epic” poems), and consider the series of “long” poems I have been writing as sort of mini-epics. My most recent published work is a sequence of 100 sonnets. Don’t know what else to say.

 

 

Stoked that my poem “My Black Spot” is featured in The Ekphrastic Review, (link: http://www.ekphrastic.net/the-ekphrastic-review/franz-kline-ekphrastic-writing-challenge-responses) ekphrastic.net/the-ekphrastic…

Wombwell Rainbow Interviews

I am honoured and privileged that the following writers local, national and international have agreed to be interviewed by me. I gave the writers two options: an emailed list of questions or a more fluid interview via messenger.

The usual ground is covered about motivation, daily routines and work ethic, but some surprises too. Some of these poets you may know, others may be new to you. I hope you enjoy the experience as much as I do.

Nathanael O’Reilly

was born and raised in Australia. He has travelled on five continents and spent extended periods in England, Ireland, Germany, Ukraine and the United States, where he currently resides. His poems have appeared in journals and anthologies in twelve countries, including Antipodes, A New Ulster, Australian Love Poems, Cordite, FourW, Glasgow Review of Books, Headstuff, LiNQ, Mascara, Postcolonial Text, Snorkel, Tincture, Transnational Literature, Verity La and The Newcastle Poetry Prize Anthology 2017. He is the author of Preparations for Departure (UWAP Poetry, 2017), named one of the “2017 Books of the Year” in Australian Book Review; Distance (Picaro Press, 2014; Ginninderra Press, 2015); and the chapbooks Cult (Ginninderra Press, 2016), Suburban Exile (Picaro Press, 2011) and Symptoms of Homesickness (Picaro Press, 2010). O’Reilly received an Emerging Writers Grant from the Literature Board of the Australia Council for the Arts in 2010. He was the writer-in-residence at Booranga Writers’ Centre in May 2017 and has given invited readings in Australia, Canada, England, Hungary, Ireland, and the United States.

UWAP author page: https://uwap.uwa.edu.au/collections/nathanael-o-reilly
UWAP Preparations for Departure page: https://uwap.uwa.edu.au/collections/nathanael-o-reilly/products/preparations-for-departure
Amazon author page: https://www.amazon.com/Nathanael-OReilly/e/B005NKPAA2/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1547822599&sr=1-1
Ginninderra Press author page: https://www.ginninderrapress.com.au/store.php?catalog/search/Nathanael+O%27Reilly/name/1
Twitter: @nathanael_o

The Interview

1. When and why did you begin to write poetry?

I wrote my first poem in my early teens in response to a crush on a girl not being reciprocated. She had a crush on me first, but I was too embarrassed and naïve to know how to respond, then by the time I had a crush on her, she had moved on (understandably). I wrote a poem using the central metaphor of an empty can kicked down the road, and it was pretty terrible, but it got me started. I imagine many other poets get started in similar ways and for similar reasons. I started writing poetry seriously and frequently after reading poetry in my English classes at high school.

2. Who introduced you to poetry?

My father was a high school English teacher, and my mother is an avid reader, so I grew up in a house full of books. The shelves always contained poetry, but I don’t remember reading a lot of poetry before my teens. I must have read some of the Hardy, Yeats, Keats and Shakespeare on the family bookshelves, and I grew up in a devout Christian household, so I read the poetry in the Bible, and was particularly impressed with the psalms of David. However, it was my high school literature teacher, Rob Robson, affectionately known as Robbo, who gave me my serious introduction to poetry via Seamus Heaney, Emily Dickinson, Sylvia Plath, Ted Hughes, Robert Lowell, Les Murray, John Keats and W.B. Yeats. I was struck especially by the work of Keats and Heaney, and around that time my Irish grandfather gave me a copy of Yeats’ Selected Poems, so Keats, Yeats and Heaney became my first great influences and their work inspired me to take the study and composition of poetry seriously – they are still my three favourite poets, my holy trinity.

3. How aware were and are you of the dominating presence of older poets?

By older poets, I presume you also mean those who are long dead. During my first few years writing poetry, I worried a lot about being too influenced by my favourite poets, all of them much older than myself, and many of them long dead. I worried that I might unconsciously imitate their style and subject matter, and whether or not I could ever produce a truly original poem. And then in my early twenties I read Harold Bloom’s The Anxiety of Influence, which made it clear to me that my experiences were nothing new and probably every poet experiences the same anxieties and doubts, especially during their early years of writing. I no longer worry about the presence/influence of older/dead poets, or whether I can develop my own voice. Over time I developed my own voice and found my own turf. If I think about your question a bit more literally, in terms of older, living poets much more successful than myself, I’d have to say that it is great to have the example and work of poets like Eavan Boland, Carol Ann Duffy, Jackie Kay, Li-young Lee, Paul Muldoon, Chris Wallace-Crabbe, John Kinsella and Paul Kane to be inspired by and learn from. On the negative side, it can be frustrating to see certain older poets continually winning the prizes, being published in the prominent journals, receiving the big fellowships, etc. One of my poet friends tells a joke about entering a certain annual competition in Australia and feeling that there was actually a chance of winning or being shortlisted for once because the poet who usually wins everything was judging and therefore unable to enter! So, sometimes it can feel like the older poets take up a bit too much space because the competition can be so tough; however, that same competition inspires one to constantly improve, and I’m thankful that we have the work of all of the poets who have come before us.
4. What is your daily writing routine?

I don’t have a daily writing routine. I’m a full-time academic, teaching literature and creative writing, as well as a husband and father, and an avid runner, so I have precious little free time, especially during the academic year. I write whenever I can, which means that I get most of my writing done on weekends or during breaks between semesters. Sometimes I am able to write a little while my students are writing or revising, and I write whenever or wherever I can, whether it’s in class, at home, or on a plane, train, bus, ferry or beach. When I get an idea, I write it down as soon as I possibly can, using whatever I have available, which is usually a Moleskine notebook or my iPhone. When I have more time, I compose first drafts in a notebook or on my laptop, and then I use the laptop for revision and editing. At home I have a study with a desk in front of a window overlooking a lake, so that is my favourite place to write and revise in solitude.

5. What motivates you to write?

I think the most fundamental and honest answer is that I write in an attempt to cheat death. Most writers hope to create work that will survive after their death and perhaps continue to be read. It’s the reason Keats writes in “Sleep and Poetry,” “O for ten years, that I may overwhelm / Myself in poesy …” Keats knew his time was short and wanted to read and write as much poetry as he possibly could in the time he had left. I also possess a strong desire to create and be productive. It’s hard for me to be content if I am not producing new work and achieving my goals, which often focus on writing and publication. I love the feeling of transforming a blank page into a page full of words – one has brought something into the world that didn’t previously exist. There’s a kind of magic in any kind of artistic production. Once the poem, song, painting or sculpture is created, it can potentially exist forever. The final motivation would be to share my work with an audience, whether in print or at a reading. I really enjoy receiving feedback at readings, and it’s always a thrill to see one’s work published in a journal or anthology, or in book form. I hope that almost every poem I write will eventually be shared with an audience.

6. What is your work ethic?

I have been justifiably accused of being a workaholic. I work hard and I get obsessed with projects and tasks. Once I get started, I don’t like to stop. I don’t like being interrupted and it’s hard for me to put something aside when I’m in the zone, but obviously I have responsibilities at home and in my workplace, so I often have to put my creative work on hold. I really enjoy the extended periods that I have (especially between semesters) to work on my writing projects. I was the writer-in-residence at the Booranga Writers’ Centre in Australia in May, 2017 – it was absolutely wonderful to devote day after day to writing and reading and to have whole days without interruption and other demands on my time. I certainly hope to participate in other residencies in the future as they allow me to be tremendously focused and productive.

7. How do the writers you read when you were young influence you today?

When I was in my teens and early twenties, my favourite writers were Keats, Yeats, Heaney and Hardy, and they are still incredibly important to me. I constantly return to their work, both for pleasure and as part of my teaching, and I find inspiration with regard to subject matter, style and technique. For example, I love Heaney’s use of enjambment and often use it in my own poetry, and I consider myself a poet of place, which is largely due to the influence and example of Heaney and Hardy. I love to write about places that are important to me, and because I have lived in six countries I have a lot of former hometowns and specific houses, buildings, streets, beaches, farms, rivers, hills and landscapes that I often think about and long to revisit. Sometimes I return to those places in my mind, and sometimes I return physically – both kinds of journey often produce new poems.

8. Who of today’s writers do you admire the most and why?

I couldn’t choose just a single poet. The living poets I most admire include Michelle Cahill, Paul Muldoon, Eavan Boland, Paul Kane, Les Murray, Carol Ann Duffy, Jackie Kay and Alex Lemon. I admire the ability they all have to write brilliant poems that convey the universal through the specific.

9. What would you say to someone who asked you “How do you become a writer?”

As I tell my students, you have to read, read, read and then read some more. We learn how to write by reading and studying the works of others, learning about form, genre, style, subject matter and specific techniques such as alliteration, enjambment, internal rhyme, simile, metaphor, voice, tense, anaphora, assonance, etc. And then we write, write, write and write some more. Every serious writer knows that it takes years and years of practice to become a decent writer, let alone a great one. I tell my students that I had to write 500 crap poems before I could write a good one. Young writers are often impatient and in a rush to get published, and many of them don’t understand that writing requires a really long apprenticeship and it is a hard-earned skill that involves a lot of craft, practice, failure and rejection. Having the desire to write is just the first step. I started writing poetry in my early teens, but didn’t start getting published in national and international journals and anthologies until my early thirties.

11. Tell me about the writing projects you have on at the moment.

I recently completed my third full-length poetry collection, tentatively titled (Un)belonging, which contains ninety poems set in ten countries and deals with themes including exile, diaspora, belonging, homesickness, alienation, travel, fatherhood, friendship, aging, illness, suburban life, mortality, religion, music, visual art and nature. I’m waiting for a decision regarding publication, so am not yet ready to move on to a new book-length project. I continue to write new poems whenever I can, so many of them will become part of another new manuscript eventually, and hopefully will be published in journals and anthologies first.

 

 

Wombwell Rainbow Interviews

I am honoured and privileged that the following writers local, national and international have agreed to be interviewed by me. I gave the writers two options: an emailed list of questions or a more fluid interview via messenger.
The usual ground is covered about motivation, daily routines and work ethic, but some surprises too. Some of these poets you may know, others may be new to you. I hope you enjoy the experience as much as I do.

Jake Berry

is a poet, musician and visual artist. The author of Brambu Drezi, Species of Abandoned Light, Drafts of the Sorcery, Genesis Suicide and numerous other books. He has been an active member of the global arts and literary community for more than 30 years. His poems, fiction, essays, reviews and other writings have been published widely in both print and electronic mediums. In 2010, Lavender Ink released a collaborative book, Cyclones in High Northern Latitudes, with poet Jeffrey Side and drawings by Rich Curtis; and Outside Voices: An Email Correspondence (with Jeffrey Side) was released by Otoliths also in that year. Phaneagrams, a collection of short poems, was published by Luna Bisonte in 2017. He regularly records and performs his compositions solo and with the groups Bare Knuckles, The Ascension Brothers and The Strindbergs. Mystery Songs, his tenth solo album, was released in 2016. Ongoing projects include books four and five of Brambu Drezi, a new book of collaborative poems with Jeffrey Side, and a wide range of musical projects.

The Interview

1. What inspired you to write poetry?
It was so long ago that I’m not sure I can say. I could feel the arts calling, but I didn’t know where to go or if I would be any good at any of them. At age 14 in school several of us started writing verses as a joke. I felt like I had the knack for it so I tried writing something serious. Everyone that read it responded positively. It was just adolescent drivel, but I felt I had connected to something important.

2. Who introduced you to poetry?

Probably my mother. She used to read poetry to my brothers and myself as we went to sleep. When I was nine I discovered Edgar Allan Poe by way of a school assignment. I was hooked.

3. How aware were you of the dominating presence of older poets?

That depends on what age. At first all I knew about was what was in our literature books and what I could find in the very small library and in the one poetry collection we had at home. By the time I started publishing I had a sense of what was out there, but I hadn’t read most of it. Most of the work that appeared in the major poetry publications seemed to be lacking compared to my favorites like Rimbaud, Whitman, Dickinson, Blake, T.S. Eliot, Gertrude Stein, et al. But I quickly met several older poets through the mail that were amazing. People like Jack Foley, Ivan Argüelles, Larry Eigner.

4. What is your daily writing routine?

I have a time set aside every day to work. You can’t make poetry happen, but you
have to be available for it. When I’m not writing I’m catching up on emails, working on musical projects or revising.

5. What motivates you to write?

Breathing. I’m sorry if that sounds cliché, arrogant or pretentious, but it’s true.

Poetry is a way of being in the world. You live it all the time. Sometimes you’re in tune and all is well. Sometimes you’re out of tune and you have to wait, make adjustments, and find the right harmonics again.

6. What is your work ethic?

Every day except for when we go out with friends visit or those rare occasions when I’m out of town.

7. How do the writers you read when you were young influence you today?

They are still very much present, but they are so deeply integrated that I don’t think about it. I still read most of them and I’m always finding new favorites.

8. Who of today’s writers do you admire the most and why?

There are so many. I’ve mentioned Jack Foley. We were published on an audio tape together in 1985. For a long time I had been wondering where the successors to the modernists were. I loved the Beats and the Surrealists that were current at the time, but most of them didn’t seem like a natural continuation of modernism which I still feel was the last movement that really shook the ground of poetry. When I heard Jack and his wife Adelle reading I felt like I was hearing what modernism had become. Later, thanks in part to Jack, I discovered Robert Duncan, Denise Levertov, Charles Olson and many others. Ivan Argüelles has been doing incredible work with lyrical intuitive streams for decades. Hank Lazer has been filing notebooks with fascinating visual poems and meditations. I still love every thing that Michael McClure writes. More recently I’ve read large amounts of Adonis, whose poetry I think is as good as anything ever written. A friend recently introduced me to Mary Oliver. I’d never heard of her despite the fact that she’s one of the most popular poets in the world. Once I started reading her I fell in love with her approach and what can be discovered through her work. Shelia Murphy is one of the finest living poets known to me. I’m currently in the process of reading Wendell Berry at length for the first time. The list is endless.

9. Why do you write, as opposed to doing anything else?

Because it makes me feel connected to something vast, something far beyond the
individual self. Everyone has a way of making that connection. For me, it’s in the creative moment.

10. What would you say to someone who asked you “How do you become a writer?”

It depends on the person and why they are asking the question. Generally, I would say you have to do the obvious, start writing. It doesn’t matter what it is or if it is any good. You have to start the process. You have to put the desire into practice.

11. Tell me about the writing projects you have on at the moment.

Two books came out at the end of last year: Trilogy: Kenosis and Nerve Figures.
I am in the process of recording audio and video versions of material from those books to help promote them. I am also writing and recording a series of songs with my
brother, Jeff, under the name Six Mile. I also continue to work on the lifelong
project Brambu Drezi and write various short poems.

Wombwell Rainbow Interviews

I am honoured and privileged that the following writers local, national and international have agreed to be interviewed by me. I gave the writers two options: an emailed list of questions or a more fluid interview via messenger.

The usual ground is covered about motivation, daily routines and work ethic, but some surprises too. Some of these fiction writers you may know, others may be new to you. I hope you enjoy the experience as much as I do.

Dustin Pearson

is the author of Millennial Roost (C&R Press, 2018) and A Family Is a House (C&R Press, 2019). He is a McKnight Doctoral Fellow in Creative Writing at Florida State University. The recipient of fellowships from Cave Canem and the Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing, Pearson has served as the editor of Hayden’s Ferry Review and a Director of the Clemson Literary Festival. He won the Academy of American Poets Katharine C. Turner Prize and holds an MFA from Arizona State University. His work appears in Blackbird, Vinyl Poetry, Bennington Review, TriQuarterly, and elsewhere.

Here are some links:

http://www.triquarterly.org/issues/issue-155/paternity?fbclid=IwAR12BJ0KEDxfhKiHmmDgsa41g1GvX6z9AJmmARmigxob9JaApTe9gsSk7DQ

https://www.crpress.org/shop/millennial-roost/

https://www.crpress.org/shop/a-family-is-a-house/

https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/mqr/2018/09/the-epistolary-ambivalence-on-balance-in-dustin-pearsons-millennial-roost/

http://haydensferryreview.com/haydensferryreview/millennialroost

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBcA-oRiu-k

dustinkpearson.com

The Interview

1. When and why did you begin to write poetry?

It was the fall semester of 2010. It wasn’t my intention to write poetry. I was convinced I was going to pursue fiction writing for my creative writing minor at Clemson University, but I couldn’t register for the advanced fiction workshop because it was full. I remember someone telling me that regardless of the genre of the prerequisite course I took, I could still complete the minor with an advanced workshop in poetry or fiction, but I still wasn’t enthused until I saw a presentation by the teacher of the advanced poetry workshop—in addition to her writing in both genres, I was mesmerized by her writing. Even then, though, I knew I had a challenge on my hands.

2. Who introduced you to poetry?

I’d say I wasn’t truly forced to take the study of poetry seriously until I took Dr. Manganelli’s Critical Writing About Literature course. I didn’t take the writing of poetry seriously until I took Dr. Weise’s poetry workshop, and that was after being nudged by Dr. Manganelli to take the poetry workshop with Dr. Weise in the first place.

3. How aware were and are you of the dominating presence of older poets?

I wasn’t at all aware that there was such a thing as a contemporary poet back when I first started my undergraduate career. I knew Maya Angelou, Nikki Giovanni, and Gwendolyn Brooks as important names and figures attached to fights for social justice, but I probably couldn’t even have had a coherent two-minute conversation about poets or poetry world’s dynamics, and what an injustice that kind of thing was.

These days I’m at a point where I often get to meet and learn from “older poets.” I’m not sure that I see their presence as dominating, but I do have a kind of reverence for them and take comfort that their presence is esteemed and recognized.

4. What is your daily writing routine?

I don’t have a routine so much as a very powerful brain and an even wilder imagination. The poems I write swirl in my head and come into higher resolution over time and so in that way I imagine I’m always writing.

5. What motivates you to write?

The desire to bend the reality of the world into one I can understand multi dimensionally.

6. What is your work ethic?

The thing that runs me down the most, makes me exceedingly anxious and ambitious, makes me age prematurely, and the thing that would make me sad that I had if life moved at a pace that truly encouraged something other than work.

7. How do the writers you read when you were young influence you today?

I’m not exactly sure. I imagine that the writers I read and enjoyed when I was young helped to nurture my imagination and larger thinking back then, and I feel that I’ve retained a large part of my younger self, so perhaps they contributed to the survival of the writing spirit I rely on today.

8. Who of today’s writers do you admire the most and why?

I admire all of the writers who are, in some way, still writing toward a better, more accessible, and more community-based world, who are, against all of the psychological and material stresses, not giving up. I haven’t been able to eradicate from my mind that today’s writers are writing up against the end of the world. There’s a hope there that will always be admirable.

9. Why do you write?

Because there’s so much more to be said about everything, because I can’t let anything go, and because I’m still alive and hoping the writing might bring me into contact with some version of my ideals.

10. What would you say to someone who asked you “How do you become a writer?”

People are already reading you. Every day they’re getting it right, getting it wrong, getting it somewhere in between, so you’re already a writer. If you want people to recognize you as that, all you need to do is put a version of that acknowledgment “on paper” and post it somewhere people will see it.

11. Tell me about the writing projects you have on at the moment.

I’m writing about friendship and two brothers working their way through Hell without each other. Both projects are beautiful.