The Quiet Letter, a platform dedicated to contemporary literature, is based in India and operates from a small provincial town. Editor Pawan N. Hira recently interviewed me. The poetry world is indeed great and small, global and local.
O at the Edges
Musings on poetry, language, perception, numbers, food, and anything else that slips through the cracks.
That was a very interesting read, Bob – different than most interviews I’ve read. Somehow, quite intimate, more personal. Really liked it!
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It was definitely different. I was a bit hesitant about using the personal emails, but in the end felt it would be okay. Pawan was very kind, and I find it so inspiring that he’s trying to support literature in such a way.
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Yes, his enthusiasm really came across!
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Oh, most definitely!
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A fascinating read … appreciate your candid responses on how poems “arrive” and how others might “interpret” them. Like any art, the beholder largely determines relevance. And the notion of letting a poem marinate … ahh!
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I just completed the first draft of a poem begun in January. Let the marination begin! I’ll probably look it over the next few days, make some changes, and then let it rest for a while. Sometimes I forget about them for months and months!
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i was quite surprised to discover that you are a p.o.e.t. When did this happen? i always had you more as a renovator of sentences, or a curator of existential dilemmas.
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What, you didn’t get the memo?
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i must have dozed through that one, or got it mixed up with something else, i am liable to such miscalculations.
Always a pleasure to read your opinions on matters of matter & life & the such. Bosting little interview, as we say where i am from.
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Typed in triplicate on an IBM Selectric typewriter…
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Might as well be speaking Provincial Latin.
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Oh, the correcting typewriters were all the rage!
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People love being corrected, look at Grammerly.
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Great interview! Really liked your words about poetry and what it means to a reader. Also loved seeing a word bathing in moonlight. 💕
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Thanks, Arbie. Pawan was enthusiastic and easy to work with.
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That was quite a session, Bob. I enjoyed the exchange, and of course your process. I think I stew more often than marinate.
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Thanks, Ken. I enjoyed it, too. Sometimes I end up pickling the poems instead of marinating them. 🙂
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