Michael Maul : part five

What do you find most difficult about writing poetry?

For me, one of the most challenging aspects of writing poetry is displaying the poem inside a correctly sized frame. This speaks directly to beginning the poem at the right place and ending it at right place.  It is sometimes difficult for me to get the proportions correct without a lot a effort, gnashing of teeth and sometimes starting over with very different dimensions.

Michael Maul : part four

How important is music to your poetry?

I have been a musician every bit as long as I have been a writer. And I still play old-time roots music as part of a jam band most Monday nights. (My grandfather was a professional musician who played in the orchestra pits of vaudeville shows and theatres that ran silent movies.)

So when writing, I try to read my words with my eyes and ears.  And I often end up moving the dials back and forth to achieve harmony.

Michael Maul : part three

How does a poem begin?

Poems usually begin with a knock on the door, and someone coming to answer. That’s how things get set in motion for me. The one who “knocks” may be an idea for a poem to be written, and an answer is the poet with whom it resonates and elects to give it a try.

From the opposite point of view, the knock may be initiated by the poet, as a gesture indicating they are available to the muses. And in this instance the “answer” is whatever is lurking behind the door that comes out to the poet to engage.

Michael Maul : part two

How do you know when a poem is finished?

For me, poems finish somewhere in the middle ground somewhere between my own preferences and the poem’s self-interests. We both get a vote. If I force things or become a bully, I can wreck a poem. But you can’t rely on the poem’s voice (inspiration?) to properly complete itself. I believe it is the job of poems to contribute Truth to its writer. And it is the poet’s job to keep truth healthy while fabricating a fitting vehicle for it to travel in.

Of course without close attention, these interests can inadvertently work at cross-purposes with each other. Which is painful.

Michael Maul : part one

Michael Maul resides in Bradenton, Florida, living near Sarasota Bay. His poems have previously appeared in numerous literary publications and anthologies in the U.S. as well as in Ireland, Scotland, and Australia.

He is also a past winner of the Mercantile Library Prize for Fiction, for a short story set in Siesta Key, and his work was selected for inclusion in Intro 4, an anthology of new voices published by The University of Virginia Press.

Maul is a graduate of the Ohio University creative writing program, where he earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees. He later held faculty and administrative positions at Ohio University (Athens, Ohio), The Columbus College of Art and Design (Columbus, Ohio), and Saint Louis University (St. Louis, Missouri.

He is the author of Birds Who Eat French Fries (2019).

What are you working on?

Last year I published two books in twelve months. It was gratifying but required attending to a lot of moving pieces. So now I’m back to just trying to write good poems,  then seeking good homes for them in literary magazines and journals pretty much anywhere in the world. That is space where I am very comfortable, and am enjoying being back inside.