Interview with poet Roger New

My special guest today is Roger New. He’s here to chat about his chapbook, Chinese Poetry for Students of Chinese.

Welcome, Roger. Please tell us a little bit about the book. It is an anthology of Chinese poems, mostly from the Tang Dynasty, chosen to give students an intro into aspects of the culture which influence Chinese society to the present day. The poems are all provided in the original Chinese, but vocabulary and explanations are given so that anybody can decipher the poems, whether they understand Chinese or not. And there are renditions in English at the end if anyone gets stuck.

The book draws the reader on from poem to poem, and by the end they will unconsciously have gained an insight into Chinese religions, education, history, geography and the roles played by women in Chinese society throughout history. That is, if they don’t get distracted by the pictures – mostly Chinese water-colours – there are over sixty in each volume.

Bio:

The author has lived and worked in China since the early nineteen eighties, spending extensive periods of time in Guangdong and Xinjiang, as well as Beijing and Shanghai. He is an academic, starting out at Oxford and London, with a PhD in immunology in 1975, pursuing a varied career in science, and setting up a biotechnology company in 2000, where he is currently working. In addition to fluent Mandarin, he speaks Russian and Portuguese, and has lectured in all of these. It is the experience of studying these languages which he considers most qualifies him for the writing of this book.

What do you enjoy most about writing?

As an academic, I enjoy explaining things to people, and making the knowledge I have acquired interesting to other readers.

Can you give us a little insight into a few of your poems – perhaps a couple of your favorites?

Every poem in the two volumes has been chosen because there is some special feature which makes it interesting and unusual, and makes the student feel it is worth memorizing.

The two poems below are selected because they remind me of my time living in China in the early 80s, in a university campus in a rural setting.

Having an appointment – Zhao Shi Xiu (Tang)

It’s the season of yellow plums, and rain is everywhere in the village.

Frogs abound in the green grass around the pond.

My visitor has not arrived, and the evening has half gone.

As I idly knock over a chess piece, ash falls from the candle.

Clear Spring – Wang Jia (Tang)

Before the rains come, every detail of the flowers is seen.

After the rains, the leaves are all gone, flowers cover the ground.

Butterflies haphazardly cross over the wall, suspecting

That the Spring has gone into a neighbour’s garden.

What form are you inspired to write in the most? Why?

Anything in Chinese.

What type of project are you working on next?

My latest project is a children’s book, written in Chinese, called The Doctor and the Dragon. The dragon is young and still growing up. He is also a bit deaf, so there is plenty of opportunity for puns and Spoonerisms, which in Chinese is quite a challenge, but great fun. There is also a translation in English, so the two together will hopefully be a good primer for both English and Chinese students to use.

When did you first consider yourself a writer / poet?

I have always written a lot of non-fiction material as part of my academic activities. I started writing fiction in Chinese as a way of practicing and improving my command of Chinese characters, and I was amazed at how things just began to flow.

How do you research markets for your work, perhaps as some advice for not-yet-published poets?

The obvious markets for these books are students learning Chinese, but those non-speakers of Chinese who want to delve more deeply into an important Chinese literary tradition will find them fascinating as well, and those readers are currently an untapped market.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

Still developing, but my ultimate aspiration is to be the Chinese Terry Pratchett.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

A scientist and inventor, which, in my other life, is what I am.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?

Don’t be put off if you are not a Chinese speaker. Read the books – there is plenty there for everyone.

Links:

Website | Facebook

Thanks for joining me today!

Interview with poet Nigel Tetley

Poet Nigel Tetley joins me today to chat about his collection of poetry, It’s a Funny Old World.

Welcome, Nigel. Please tell us a little bit about yourself.

It started with a telephone call. In 2001, another teacher I had got to know in a neighbouring school called me one November evening to ask me if I would agree to write some children’s stories for a new numeracy project that she wanted to pilot in her own primary school. Her idea was to teach basic mathematical ideas through the medium of story. To this day, I do not know what made her think of me because, as I told her at the time, I had never written creatively in my entire life. I had only ever written irrelevant, boring, academic stuff at university, and I hadn’t even been particularly good at that. My only writing experience had been on philosophical and religious ideas, and now, as a teacher, the only writing I ever did was when I was either marking homework or churning out reports (which, all the evidence suggested, nobody read anyway). I didn’t have an imaginative life, I told her. I was a teacher, after all. She would have none of it, however, and so, if only to get her off my back, I reluctantly decided to give it a go. The moment I started was one of total astonishment. I felt that I had come home.

The numeracy project drew to a close, but I carried on, and I have not been able to stop; nor do I want to. Like a true addict, I don’t care about my dependency. All that matters to me now is my next fix. I have since branched out from numeracy topics to a diverse range of subjects and to a broader range of readers.

Please tell us about your current release.

It’s a Funny Old World is a collection of twenty poems written primarily for teenage readers who regard themselves as reluctant readers. The twenty pieces are short and accessible enough not to be threatening, but broad enough in their range of topics to stand a good chance of hooking the reader in.

What inspired you to write this book?

In my job as a teacher, I am continually confronted with the fact that most young people have a purely functional understanding of reading; that the one and only purpose of reading is to gain necessary information. The idea that one can approach a text in exactly the same way that one can instinctively approach, say, a piece of music, for example, is alien to most young people, in my experience. This book is a small attempt to change that mindset. Thus, the book is primarily for those who think that reading has got nothing to do with entertainment.

Excerpt from It’s a Funny Old World:

THE ACTOR’S SOLILOQUY

                                                I am not who I am,

                                                And I am who I’m not,

                                                I’m a living and stark contradiction,

                                                I express what is true,

                                                Yet my life is a lie,

                                                I’m a fact even though I’m a fiction,

                                                Every move that I make

                                                Is an act of pretence,

                                                A sham from beginning to end,

                                                A sheer fabrication,

A glorified lie,

                                                Whenever I play Let’s Pretend,

                                                There is no human drama

                                                I cannot take part in,

                                                I perform every role unrestricted,

                                                But alone in my room,

                                                There’s no sign of myself,

                                                Like a tenant now long since evicted,

                                                My essence is merely

                                                Dramatis Personae,

                                                A bundle of roles with no core,

                                                An identity void

Of a real, solid self,

                                                A collection of parts, nothing more,

                                                So when I use the word ‘I’

                                                In the course of a script,

                                                What is meant by this pronoun’s grammatical span?

                                                Am I me when I act or somebody else?

                                                Just who is now speaking:
                                                The mask or the man?

What exciting story are you working on next?

Ten Finger Rhymes (to teach the first five cardinal and ordinal numbers).

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I have never considered myself to be a writer. After all, Shakespeare was a writer, and I’m no Shakespeare. What I am is somebody who loves to play with the English language in the hope that I will entice others to do the same.

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?

I am a teacher, and so writing is just a hobby for me, but one of the great things about writing is that it is a hobby that you can take anywhere. For example, I wrote the words to one of my pieces when stuck in a traffic jam. I wrote another during a free period at work when I should have been marking, and I wrote yet another during a school staff meeting. That’s the beauty of writing. You can do it anywhere, anytime, under any conditions, and nobody ever knows what you’re up to. It is the greatest form of escapism, ever.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

I never write anything down until the whole piece is finished in my head.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I wanted to be a musician. Thankfully, the world was spared that particular affliction.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?

My earliest memory is that of writing out each of the twenty-six letters of the English Alphabet, over and over again, and each time being mesmerised at how the shape of each one exactly matched the sound that it made. That perfect correspondence is one that still bewitches me to this day. How is it that each letter looks like its sound? (If you haven’t ever noticed this before, go back and have a fresh look. You’re in for the shock of your life.)

Thanks for stopping by today! All the best with your writing.

Interview with poet Margaret Goka

Poet Margaret Fourt Goka joins me to talk about her new chapbook, The Woven Flag.

Welcome, Margaret. Please tell us a little bit about yourself.

I was born in Washington, D.C. and lived in Bethesda, Maryland for 18 years. I traveled to St. Louis, Missouri for college at Washington University, majoring in English Literature. I met and married my husband in St. Louis. We settled in Sunnyvale, California where we raised three daughters. I completed a master’s degree in linguistics at San Jose State University and worked teaching English as a second language for over 30 years. Now I am retired and a grandmother.

Please tell us a little bit about your current release.

I have recently published a book of poetry collected from writing over the years since I was an undergraduate. It contains poems written when my children were young to the present.

What inspired you to write the book?

I like to reflect on what I have done and thought through writing poems. I wrote about my children, cats, places where I have been, questions I have, and the lives of my parents and husband.

Excerpt:

The dream comes out of sleep whole.

A universe creates within me

            As I wake.

            I write what I see

Like a sketch.

What are you working on next?

I need to find, collect and type up poems from journals and notebooks. I have not started this process yet. Some poems are thoughts or events I am sharing with my deceased husband.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

In fourth grade my teacher told the class that we could all write a book someday. I always believed her. I took a poetry writing class in college which gave me some practice. After marrying it was hard to find time to write, but this gradually became easier as my children grew up and started their own adult lives. Even when they were small, I intended to write and collected my poems.

Do you write full time? What do you do other than write?

I do not write full time. I am active in my church, volunteer at the Sunnyvale Historical Museum, and go to an exercise class or walk to keep fit. When I get an idea to write about, I find time to work on it, but I do not put specific time aside to write when I do not have an idea.

What would you say is an interesting writing quirk?

My habit is to keep memos and shopping lists in a small memo notebook. Sometimes I’ll start writing a poem in it, but since the pages are small, the poem will be brief.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I wanted to be a teacher.

Thank you for joining me today, Margaret!

Interview with writer Dane Cobain

My special guest today is writer Dane Cobain and we’re chatting about his book of poetry, Eyes Like Lighthouses When the Boats Come Home.

Bio:

Dane Cobain (High Wycombe, UK) is a published author, freelance writer, poet and (occasional) musician with a passion for language and learning. When he’s not working on his next release, he can be found reading and reviewing books for his award-winning book blog, SocialBookshelves.com, while trying not to be distracted by Wikipedia. His releases include No Rest for the Wicked(supernatural thriller), Eyes Like Lighthouses When the Boats Come Home (poetry) Former.ly (literary fiction), Social Paranoia (non-fiction), Come On Up to the House(horror) and Subject Verb Object (anthology).

Welcome, Dane. What do you enjoy most about writing poems?

I think it’s the fact that you can examine different subjects and concepts much easier than you can with prose, and they also don’t take long to write so you can create multiple per day.

Can you give us a little insight into a few of your poems – perhaps a couple of your favorites?

I memorise and perform my poems, so I suppose my point of view is different to most. Univocalisms is the most fun to perform because it’s almost like a long tongue-twister – each stanza uses only one vowel, cycling through A, E, I, O and U. Dying is close to my heart because it’s about anxiety, and Anonymous’ White Mask of Freedom is a bit of an epic one that takes several minutes to perform and is about internet censorship and digital freedom.

What form are you inspired to write in the most? Why?

I almost exclusively write in free verse because I don’t like rhyming poetry. I find that writing in a specific form tends to stunt the work and make it feel flat and lifeless.

What type of project are you working on next?

I write in multiple formats and so my main current focus is actually the editing phases of my first detective novel, Driven. But when it comes to poetry, I’m also halfway through writing and memorising my next book (Kiss Kiss Death Death) and I have another book that’s a sort of poetic spin on the Titanic story that I may or may not release at some point.

When did you first consider yourself a writer / poet?

It’s hard to say as I’ve been writing for as long as I remember. I don’t think there’s any specific moment, although when my first book was published and when I quit my job to focus on writing full-time were both pivotal moments.

How do you research markets for your work, perhaps as some advice for not-yet-published poets?

I don’t. I write for myself, not for other people. Once I have a book on the market, I then start to reach out to bloggers etc. who are interested in the topics I cover. I use all sorts of different techniques to get the word out – anything that I can!

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

I think my quirk is that I’m quirky. I write the kind of books that not many other people would (or could) write, which makes it hard to classify my writing. I think there’s something there for everyone.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I always wanted to be a writer. For a little while I also wanted to be a rock star (and I still kind of do), but being a writer was first and foremost.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?

Just keep on reading – and be sure to review the books you read on Amazon and Goodreads, whether you’re reading indie authors of bestsellers. There’s no greater gift for an author you like than to read them a review. Plus, it doesn’t take long. I should know – I’ve reviewed over 1,000 books on my book blog. It’s fun!

Links:

Website | Amazon UK | Amazon US

Thanks for being here today, Dane. All the best with your writing projects!