The poet and publisher John D. Robinson asks George Anderson a few questions about his new chapbook Fuckwits & Angels(Holy & Intoxicated Press, UK) and about his writing in general.
I like the title of the chapbook Fuckwits & Angels, where did this come from ? What or who inspired it?
The title is originally from a much larger manuscript which collected over a 110 of my portrait poems written over a period of about twenty years. Most of the poems were previously published in small press journals, many of which have since folded. I assembled the book a couple of years ago but never submitted the manuscript for publication. Only about three of the poems survive in the Holy & Intoxicated publication from the original manuscript.
Fuckwits is a kind of sampler of a handful of my portrait poems. Some are old, some are new and have never been published. I'm, of course, viewing humanity on a smaller, more personal scale. There are some wayward, crazed characters portrayed in the chap, but you will also find others innocent of their circumstances, or mired in grief or dope.
Have you a routine or a particular process when writing? Are you a creature of habit? Do you write poetry everyday?
I don’t write creative stuff everyday but rather tend to bank up material, in the form of brief notes or titles to be re-visited at a later date. When I'm ready, I sometimes type up a first draft in the notebook section of my phone, then email it to myself for further drafting, if required.
The hustle of writing & publishing poetry can become all-consuming and it can prevent you from simply enjoying life rather than trying to capture it in words. My early poem 'words' (2002) explores this dilemma:
words
How beautiful how refreshing
it is one day to wake up
without any poetic notions, or impulses;
simply to let life be
without pretence without ambition-
without words
to simply watch the cloudless sky
to feel the head wind on the shore
to silently contemplate
that thin blue line where sea meets sky
you pedal down the track
without any thought of reducing it all to words,
to a smattering of images or symbols
but as you get off your bike
& wordlessly focus on the sea-
it swoops down upon you, unexpected
from somewhere- the words soiling you,
seeping out of you once again
When did you begin to write poesy? What was the trigger?
A security guard friend of mine died in his early 40s from oesophagus cancer from drinking too much of a popular cola soft drink. He drank about 4 litres a day and often experienced reflux. It was traumatic seeing him being transformed from a 270 pound giant to a 60 pound weeping nothing. I went to his viewing with my boys and wife and we were horrified! Afterwards, I kept telling myself I got to get some of this shit down before it’s too late. The poem, which became known as 'A View of a Friend' was incredibly difficult to write and went through many transformations, including a recent rewrite.
Does the ongoing time and hard work with Bold Monkey have an impact upon the time you dedicate to your own work?
I see Bold Monkey as an extension of my own creative work. The blog first developed as a showcase for my own poetry and photography but as it evolved, I started writing criticism of small press publications in 2007 to see if I could write the stuff, and later, in 2013, to feature the work of writers whom I admired.
In the blog, I have encountered many highly accomplished writers and it has been challenging and rewarding to see if I can make sense of, and especially, to give justice to their work in detailed critical reviews. Most of the writers I review are marginal and hugely undervalued and you usually won't find any substantial body of analysis of their work. So usually my book reviews start from scratch and often involve an interview with the writer or a series of email exchanges with them to get a better heads-up of what they are trying to do for my small BM readership.I like to develop both my creative and analytical writing so I really don’t see Bold Monkey as hampering my creative side.
Your poems are very grounded and personal, direct: how do feel giving so much of yourself away upon the page?
Great question! I could probably ask you the same John. Although I include many auto-biographical references in my work, the writing is essentially fictional. Over the years I have learnt to distant myself from the rawness of real experiences through the use of pseudonyms, composite characters and events, third person narratives, dramatic irony and other devices.
The poem “Scattering Bob’s Ashes” in the chap, however, is more direct and confronting. It is about my trip to Nova Scotia in 2015 after my brother’s death. I was totally gutted by the experience. I tried to recreate the event as accurately as possible. There were a few minor edits but the poem came out in one flow.
The poem "Miracle of a Beer Kind", although less edifying, is also is based on a real event. I try to focus on creating a clear image in the reader's head so they can imagine they are witnesses to the experience. The language is usually simple, pared back and has a sense of immediacy to enhance the effect.
How important is publishing your work, either online or in print?
If I publish some of my work I’m usually pleased- you get a momentary buzz but as you know, it doesn’t usually equate to many dollars or fame. Ultimately, I'm always looking towards the next poem- and the poem or story after that. At the moment, I am working towards collecting some of my best previously published poems in larger books.
I don’t fear rejection but I’m deeply suspicious of the growing trend of publishers to charge a reading fee. Sometimes for a laugh, I will submit material which will certainly be rejected like the following satiric poem, which was sent to a well known online publication:
This One is For Free
Most readers,
consumers
want everything
for free
these days.
Newspapers & magazines
are massively shedding
staff. Others have folded.
Independent presses are drying up.
Most things are available now online
with the flick of a finger.
I tell you dear reader the best
I can offer you now is this humble poem.
There may not be very much to it
in substance
in style
or effort-
but you get what you pay for
you cheap prick!
Any favourite small press poets/publishers/publications that you’d like to mention?
In my early reviews I was highly impressed by Epic Rites Press and later by Lummox Press and a few others. My favourite contemporary writers would have to include Rob Plath, Wolfgang Carstens, John Yamrus, Bill Gainer, Ryan Quinn Flanagan, William Taylor Jr., Mather Schneider, John Sweet, Janne Karlsson, Joseph Ridgwell, Matthew Borazon and many others, including yourself. I reckon Brian Rihlmann is an upcoming writer to watch.
What has been the most difficult or awkward moment for you in this, what John Grochalski calls ‘this poetry business’.
I have never actively sought to publish a full-length collection of my work but I was approached several years ago by an underground American press to submit material for a possible book. I sent about 150 pages of material. The book was not ground-breaking but it represented some of my better work and used a wide variety of styles and voices. I felt burnt for a couple of weeks when the deal eventually fell through.
I’ve since realised this is quite common in the fickle world of non-subsidised literature and many a poet since have told me they have had a similar story or two.
What is the highlight for you in this poetry business?
My main buzz is being able to communicate with writers about their work. At any one time I am usually dealing with five writers- reading their work, drafting reviews, researching more about their art and collecting links, developing interview questions and the like.
The only time I have made any significant bread from my writing was when I wrote poetry for the primary school journal School Magazine, published by the NSW Education Department through its off-shots Orbit, Touchdown and Blast Off. I published about 25 poems through their magazine which was distributed through hundreds of schools. I’d talk to my young sons and I would create free verse poems, often sports or animal related from a child’s perspective, and unencumbered by traditional line structures. A primary teacher even devised a writing unit based on my poetry.
The cover art for Fuckwits and Angels is simply awesome, could you say something of the artist? And how this became the cover?
The portrait is of me by my partner who uses the pen name of Pam’la. A few years back she was doing portraits of the family and we came across a collage of Salman Rusdie by Dave McKean which we liked. In creating the portrait, she stuck snippets of a few of my poems, including “Flathead”, “Rain” and “Diary of a Semi-Colon” in reference to my poetic leanings & later layered it with blotches of paint.
Have you any future poetry projects?
I have a backlog of poems which merit collection in one form or other. I’ve lost count of the poems I’ve written and actually published. Probably 700 or more. As a high school teacher I was rather reticent in getting my work out there as many of my poems are unsuitable for readership under 15. My third person poem in the chap Fuckwits & Angels“Why He Stopped Posting Shit on the Net” describes the difficulty of writing what you want, and at the same time, fearing recriminations from your employer.
That said, I always received total support from my school through the many poetry projects I pursued- including the publication of seven issues of the student poetry journal Ephemeral. I sometimes snuck within its pages writer friends such as Rob Plath, Wolfgang Carstens and Alan Wearne.
I have recently collected many of my portrait poems and in a separate volume my poems loosely connected with the concept of death. Other collections could possibly include The School Poems, maybe even a volume of my experimental verse, tentatively called The Abstract Poems.
I’ve also have just finished an integrated collection of short stories/novel The Empty Glass centred around a young bloke Toby Mulheron who works in the pub industry in Australia. It will be published by Alien Buddha Press in 2020. A few of the stories have previously been published in Rust Belt Review, Brenton Booth's The Asylum Floor #2 and in Alien Buddha #5 & #7. You'll find some crazy shit in there!
Thanks George.
No worries.
The limited print of Fuckwits & Angels is SOLD OUT.
See also the October 2020 Wayne F. Burke interview here: https://georgedanderson.blogspot.com/2020/10/wayne-f-burke-interviews-george.html
See also Jason Gerrish’s interview here: https://georgedanderson.blogspot.com/2021/10/interview-with-george-anderson-2.html
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