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 Kadeem Graham

Poet Kadeem Graham joins me today to chat about a new collection of poems, Eyes to the World.

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

I’m a fine art student in my 2^nd year with an inclination towards sculpture, I play piano, I am a voracious reader of classic literature and poetry and I have a passion for ancient history.

What do you enjoy most about writing poems?

For me, what I enjoy most about writing, is the expression of my soul into words and metaphors. It is a way of understanding the interior of my soul and an understanding of my place in the world. Also, for me is the ability to create a set of images or imagery that resonate with the emotions I feel, for example, I would compare crying and sadness to the flow of an endless river or rage and anger to the heat of a burning sun.

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

Here are excerpts from some of my favourite poems

Two from my current book and two in other books to come

There’s A Dream

In the ones who lost it all

In the ones who lost the factories

In the ones who strike and rally 

In the ones who hope for more 

In the ones standing up against the establishment 

For me this poem, is an uplifting and inspiring piece, that captures the idea of hope in the midst of our turbulent political times. The idea that everyone regardless of colour, nationality, class, background has a dream, we haven’t achieved, but we want to reach towards.

Midnight World

The sun has run out of life

The thunder has taken a turn

towards our fate

The moon has moved from our compass

The stars have switched off their dreams

The meteorites march for the war

The sea run into dry mouths

This poem, is an almost apocalyptic vision of our world today, a world ravaged by environmental destruction, lawlessness, political chaos and lack of hope if we refuse to change our ways. In many ways, it is a forewarning piece of work about our uncertain future, as in the line ‘the thunder has taken a turn towards our fate’ we have created an extreme environment that is weaponized against us.

At Winter’s Mercy

The angels seem to be following me

The golden star has fallen off the tree

The freezing breeze is losing sleep

The snowy weather falls

The icicles drop like shattered hearts

The skeleton in the wind is walking free

This poem in it’s dark, almost gothic atmosphere it creates is one of my favourites. This was written in the winter a couple of years, when I was in deep emotional anguish. I was comparing the brutality and coldness of winter with Christmas imagery. I was feeling contradictory feelings joy at the coming of Christmas, but also sadness and hopelessness. The poem is incredibly painful, but is also very therapeutic to me.

Oh The Night 

The night skies were bright

The stars were blue flies

The clouds were silver dust

Sleep was a set of jewels

I came across and kept in a secret box

I was sailing in a sea of stars

Where the moon was raining in light

A more recent poem of mine. This poem comes from marvel, wonder, amazement and mystery at the enduring image of the night sky. As an artist and writer, the night sky is an endlessly inspiring place. In this poem, through use of imagery and metaphor, I wanted to conjure up the whimsical and almost magical quality of the stars, the moon and the night sky.

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

I am most inspired to write in free verse, with the occasional rhyming scheme. For me, as a poet this is the most liberating exercise in being truly imaginative and creative with the scenes, images and metaphors I wish to create. I am not restricted by strict rules, I let my imagination flow.

What type of project are you working on next?

I usually write day by day, working from a word, phrase that has inspired a poem. I hope in the future, to release a collection of poetry based on love and my longstanding discussion of spirituality and faith.

When did you first consider yourself a writer / poet?

I first considered myself a poet, when one day I was on a journey to work and I was musing at the window looking at the sky and clouds, and I began writing how I felt about that. That inspiration lead to my first poem, The Clouds. I showed it to family and friends, and they told me it was amazing. I began to realize I could express my feelings into words about anything and everything and I used that to significant effect, I began to write more and more and the rest they say is history. Today, I write poems about my feelings and experiences and my reflections upon the world.

The Clouds

The clouds awash with the skies

With their piercings and openings

Sights into other worlds

Slowly pulsating

Delicate and ethereal

Woven by the gods

Journeying across the globe

Visiting distant regions and unknown locales

Some journey alone, others journey together

On their way creating havoc and chaos to the people

Or peace and tranquility to the people who need them

I wave to the clouds a goodbye

For I know they will always be there

Awashing the skies with their beauty

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

I haven’t got too that stage just yet, I am still working on marketing myself and my work to the general public. My advice for not yet published poets, is keep writing it will greatly improve your writing ability and insights into work. Have your own unique style of writing, be different, my way of writing will be different to yours. Have a read of works by other poets. Try and get published if you can, make sure it has a great front cover and you have the rights. Publish it for yourself most of it all, for personal achievement and don’t stop writing if it doesn’t succeed. Just keep writing.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

I can write a poem from a verse or line that just pops into my head, like ice melting from a cloud’s shine, just thought of that now ha-ha.

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

I wanted to do something creative, something interesting where I didn’t end working 9-5 in an office, disappearing into boredom. I am living my dream today.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?

Have a look at a preview of my e-book on Amazon if you can and keep writing!

Thanks for being here today!