Thursday 25 April 2019

Colin Dardis : part five

When you require renewal, is there a particular poem or book that you return to? A particular author? 

Any good piece of writing can be the starting point for a poem; even an interesting word or phrase can give off sparks. If anything, it’s more a writer’s work ethic that I find inspiring. Complacency and procrastination can creep in easily for a writer, as it’s usually a solitary experience. You don’t have a boss to check your targets, or a team performance to satisfy. I’m a big fan of Samuel Beckett’s prose and stage writing (oddly enough, not so much his poetry). I just read two books about him, and as with his own writing, I came away replenished. There is still so much to say against the void, against the cruelty of life, and of finding one’s little joys within. Beckett is who I most seek to emulate – perhaps a cliché for an Irish writer, but I could have worse role models.

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