Saturday, April 13, 2013

My Next Big Thing

Tagged by the brilliant Elizabeth Robinson, I've at last managed to post this interview!

What is the working title of the book?
Decorations

Where did the idea come from for the book?
I can’t really call it a spin-off from Hoard, the book I just published with Shearsman Books, but it’s definitely linked. Hoard comes out of a moment when I fell in love with a display of the Hoxne treasure, a cache of Anglo Roman jewellery and domestic items at the British Museum about three years ago. The poems form an imaginary narrative about love. Just before I left for the UK in order to better write these poems, the Staffordshire hoard was uncovered near Birmingham. Since it’s the largest discovery of Anglo-Saxon items ever uncovered and since it’s changing the way early medieval England is thought of, I couldn’t resist writing a poem sequence about it. The salient characteristic of the Staffordshire hoard is that it is all military ornamentation: beautifully designed and crafted sword hilts, pommels, and such. And so, the poems had to be about war. That has meant a lot to me.

What genre does your book fall under?
Poetry.

What actors would you chose to play the part of the characters in your book?
There are no actors that can play the parts of the speakers in this poem. They are real live people: their testimony taken from a number of sources: journalists’ notes, trial records, interviews in the field, etc.

What is the one sentence synopsis of your book?
I think it’s a question not a synopsis. Several questions, really.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?
I’ve been taking notes for about three years, but it probably all boils down to a month of writing.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?
I’m not sure inspiration is the word. The things I hear and see in the media compelled me. Perhaps the biggest influence would be Chris Hedges and then the death of Tim Hetherington.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
Someone else will publish it, I hope, though I may put it into performance events first.


Now to think of someone to tag who hasn’t been tagged already!