First of all, Peter thank you for taking the time to answer these questions.
I am very flattered to be deemed worthy of interview!
Oh, well, you are very welcome. I believe you are a man who likes to keep himself busy. You work a nine-to-five job ( please let me know if you want to give details of what you do for a living) write quirky musings for the Community Voice, used to take part of the Phoenix Ink writing group, you write poems almost on a daily basis, keep close to other blogs and maintain blogs of different genre ( poetry, football, ) you participate in poetry events, where do you find the time to sleep?
Ha! On the contrary, I am a very lazy man who simply has too many things on his plate. I work a 7 to 7 job three or four days a week and so I don’t get to do very much on those days. However, I am off three or four days per week, which is when I throw myself into things. Don’t forget I also have a wife and family to whom I must dedicate time also. Normally, I get up early and write / blog solidly for three hours until the rest of them get up and the day officially starts!
And how did you start writing? Is it something that came to you late in life or were you always writing?
Like many teenagers, I used to write crap poetry. From there, I progressed to writing crap lyrics to songs when I was in a local punk band. After that, I did very little writing until my thirties when I started composing little rhymes for family events and people leaving work. I enjoyed the humorous verse so much that I just started writing it as a hobby, like some people do crossword puzzles to keep their brain active. Then in my mid-forties, I started writing serious poetry too and articles for the local paper.
You also participate in writing competitions. I believe your poems have appeared a bit everywhere, feel free to correct me but I believe your poems were selected in the Boynes Berries journal, the Shot Glass Journal, the Shit Creek Review and lately with Upstart. How did you hear about the project?
I believe I heard about the UpStart project from another blogger. People may decry blogging but it’s a great way of hearing what is happening in the world of poetry.
And do you believe in highlighting the importance of creativity when society is in need of directions and solutions?
Yes it is important. A bit of creativity could go a long way to addressing many of the social problems in society today.
How do you see the current economic and political climate affecting modern poets?
I have absolutely no idea. Of course, many poets will continue to write about the rugged cliffs and the bough of the hazel. Personally, I don’t think there’s enough political poetry being produced. God knows, we have so much to be angry about and we’re still writing about curlews crying!
What do you love about poetry? Who/What inspires you (in the past or now) and why?
I love poetry that I can understand, that I can understand on different levels. There is a lot of poetry out there that I don’t understand on any level, poetry that seems to set out to be willfully obscure, as though the poet is setting out a puzzle for the reader to decipher. To me, that’s not poetry – that’s merely writing to show your peers how clever you are. It’s like art. I see a painting of a boat and I like it. I see a painting of a boat on a quayside with a dishevelled woman looking distraught and I think its brilliant. I see a child’s circle with four lines coming out of it and it does nothing for me. James Harpur was probably the first poet to show me that you don’t have to write unintelligible poetry. I love Iggy McGovern’s work for its humour, I love Kate Dempsey’s quirkiness, I like Seamus Barker’s use of rhyme.
Your poem ‘The Insect Man’ was short-listed for the ‘Poem for Children’ category of the Plough Prize. You must have pleased with that. Maybe you can tell us of your greatest achievements?
I’m not sure what you’d count as achievements. Helping to rear my two children without having a nervous breakdown? Working for Dunnes for eighteen years without hitting anyone? Poetically speaking, winning the Strokestown Humorous Verse competition in 2008 was a great thrill – being shortlisted for the same competition four years out of the past five is something I’m delighted with. Winning Baffle in 2009 and being chosen for Poetry Ireland’s Introductions series last year were two more big highlights.
And what is your current project?
Sadly I have a very short attention span. Simply trying to keep all the balls in the air at once is enough for me! Keep writing my humorous verse, keep writing my serious verse, writing my Arts pages and Musings articles in The Community Voice, contributing to the Shelbourne FC matchday programme, riding TFE’s Poetry Bus in Blogland, transcribing my grandfather’s memoirs – that’s enough projects for me! Never mind the quality, feel the width, as they say!
Well Peter, I wish the best of luck in keeping all the balls in the air at once. I am sure many people will enjoy your jugglery.