The
ShatterColors
Standard Interview
-- Author Version:
Lee Passarella
(Interview
consists of 15
pre-set questions.
Authors have published
at least one novel
or short story/poetry
collection.)
1)
Why did you begin
writing, and how
long have you
been doing so?
I
found that I was
much more articulate
as a writer than
as a speaker,
and my teachers
thought I had
a gift for writing.
Writing seemed,
early on, a natural
mode of communication
for me. I started
writing seriously--imitating
other writers'
styles and plot
lines, that sort
of thing--in junior
year of high school,
though I had been
writing stories
since elementary
school. I even
wrote a little
cycle of stories
in, I
think, the third
or fourth grade.
2)
What does your
writing routine
consist of?
With
poetry writing,
I almost always
wait for the muse
to visit. My "occasional"
verses, or poems
I might write
for a contest
or other themed
issue of a magazine,
are usually lesser
efforts for sure.
Ditto verse that
I produce as studies
of form--villanelle,
sonnet, etc. Once
the inspiration
comes, I accumulate
possible images
and phrases in
my head before
committing them
to paper. Then
I produce the
entire poem, usually
at a sitting.
Now the hard work
begins. I revise,
revise, revise
for days, perhaps
a week, often
going through
as many as ten
or more separate
revisions. During
the course of
this activity,
what started out
as free verse
poetry may end
up in some form
that I deem better
suited to the
material. Or that
may happen at
a much later date.
Usually, after
the poem has been
revised--and this
might take several
days or as much
as a week--I set
it aside and let
it cool. Future
revisions are
fewer but often
quite substantive
in their nature.
They will come
whenever some
new idea springs
to mind that seems
like a solution
to a problem the
poem posed in
the first place.
3)
Have specific
events ever flung
you into an extended
and productive
period of creativity?
Probably
not extended periods,
no. I'm often
stimulated by
reading an individual
poem, by some
news event or
editorial treatment
of the news, or
by a memory--most
often that, I
guess--but such
inspirations are
often good for
a single poem,
not a series.
4)
What are common
sources of inspiration?
I find that reading
a poem by a good
poet often stimulates
me. This happens
when I read a
number of poems,
as when I'm proofreading
an edition of
the poetry magazines
I work for. An
individual poem
will set me off,
and I'll say,
"I'd like
to try something
in that vein,"
though there is
always a significant
difference between
my poem and the
poem that inspired
me. I'm past the
point of slavish
imitation, but
all poets are
flattered by being
the inspiration
of another poet.
And I have a lot
of debts, and
there are lots
of poets who should
feel flattered.
5)
What does a book
need to do to
get you to read
it from beginning
to end?
I guess it needs
to have characters
that I can relate
to in one way
or another and
care about pretty
deeply. I want
to know what is
going to happen
to them, so I
read on. But the
language itself
must be stimulating.
There must be
enough of the
unexpected turn
of the phrase--that
phrase wherein
you see the writer's
mental wheels
turning--to make
me want to experience
more of the beauties
and mysteries
of the writer's
style. So language
and character
are clearly the
two most important
elements. Incident
is, well, incidental.
6)
Who are some of
the authors you
most admire?
Among poets, I
truly find Elizabeth
Bishop a great
inspiration. Her
poetry and her
serious approach
to it are both
an inspiration.
Supposedly, she
would tack a poem
to her wall with
"holes"
in it where the
right word should
go. And then she
would wait, maybe
months, for those
right words to
come to her. When
at last then came,
the holes were
filled, and not
until then was
the poem complete.
That is dedication
to one's craft!
Among the classics,
Shakespeare can't
fail to amaze
repeatedly, and
so with his contemporaries
and near contemporaries
John Donne and
George Herbert.
They've taught
me much about
"spiritualizing"
my poetry, and
how that doesn't
mean it needs
to be spiritual
drivel. Keats
among later poets.
He was able to
write a philosophically
tinged poetry
without getting
up on any soapboxes.
Among novelists
and story writers,
Hawthorne, Conrad,
and more recently
Walker Percy are
authors who stimulate
me to read as
much as I can
of their work.
7)
How familiar are
you with the literary
canon?
Pretty familiar,
having taught
English for a
number of years.
I think the canon
makes a certain
amount of sense,
but there is always
the fascinating
writer well outside
the canon--say,
Weldon Keyes--who
can open your
eyes enough to
make one stray
outside the canon,
even for teaching
purposes.
8)
What's your take
on politics and
literary endeavor?
Most of the politically
inspired poetry
that I see is
truly occasional
verse. It will
die with the cause
or sentiment that
inspired it. Most
poetry that is
political in nature
becomes terribly
preachy and pedantic.
It is hard to
be quiet about
politics, and
most of the good
poetry I know
is quiet in its
sharing of great
profundities.
Even important
writers whose
work could be
seen as polemical
have enough subtlety
in their craft
to make it a matter
of art first,
and politics a
distant second.
Take Sylvia Plath,
for instance--what
could be more
political, or
noisy, than a
poetry with so
much man-hating
and concomitant
self-hating in
it? At least it's
a poetry guaranteed
to be embraced
by those with
a political agenda.
And yet the craft
of Plath's verse
raises it to a
level well beyond
the purely political.
9)
What are your
feelings about
formal vs. free
verse?
I write mostly
free verse. Sometimes
a poem I write
wants to be formal,
so I put it in
that guise. And
sometimes, usually
with limited success,
I start off writing
a formal piece
because the poem
seems to want
to go that way
from the beginning.
Thus I was interested
to learn that
in a poll of readers
of poetry on the
Internet, I ranked
with those who
were favorites
among formalist
poets. Funny,
I don't think
of myself that
way....
10)
Do you feel "flash"
fiction (300 words
or less) is a
viable form, or
nothing more than
a writing exercise?
It is viable.
Anything with
a readership is
viable, and there
is a fairly large
readership for
it. I don't know
if the readership
is others who
do or want to
try their hand
at flash fiction,
but anyway, it
gets read. I'm
not a fan, however.
11)
When not writing,
what do you do
for amusement?
Listen to music
and read, oftentimes
together. I'm
a classical music
maven, and my
CD collection,
which keeps growing,
has been a major
bone of contention
in my family.
12)
What's one of
the most annoying
things you can
think of?
Aggressive drivers,
of which we have
many in the Atlanta
metro area. Aggressive
drivers on cell
phones. And certain
particularly nagging
cell phone ringtones.
Otherwise, I'm
happy.
13)
Briefly describe
what you consider
to be one of your
standout childhood
pranks.
Come on! I was
a model child.
Actually, it's
not much of a
prank, but I taught
a less with-it
friend of mine
how to write spelling
words on his desktop
before a spelling
test and then
erase them quickly
afterward. He
forgot the bit
about erasing
the words and
so was exposed.
A good prisoner
of war, he gave
only his name,
rank, and serial
number, thus saving
me from interrogation.
I have never forgotten
this gesture or
what it said about
my less quick-witted
but loyal friend.
14)
What are your
upcoming projects/works
in progress?
I have a full-length
poetry manuscript
that I keep working
on, though it
is substantially
complete. I also
have a young-person's
Civil War novel
manuscript now
languishing with
a small local
publisher, and
I'm thinking about
turning it into
a series--with
or without an
enthusiastic response
to the first book.
15)
Care to conclude
with a sweeping
philosophical
statement?
Sure. The world
is too much with
us. Old Willy
Wordsworth got
it right about
170 years ago,
give or take,
and the truth
he observed gets
only truer. I
think most Americans
need to spiritualize
their lives more,
and that doesn't
necessarily mean
accepting an organized--or
even disorganized--religion.
It just means
going inside oneself
rather than outside,
to the material
world, for inspiration.
I can't, or won't,
be any more specific
than that.
_______________
The
ShatterColors
Standard Interview
-- Author Version
©
2006 by Robert
Scott Leyse
Lee
Passarella Responses
© 2007 by
Lee Passarella
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