Author Interview: Stephen C. Pollock

Welcome to TRB Lounge. Today, I’d like to welcome the author of Exits: Selected Poems—Stephen C. Pllock for an author interview with The Reading Bud in collaboration with Poetic Book Tours.

About The Author

Stephen C. Pollock is a recipient of the Rolfe Humphries Poetry Prize and a former associate professor at Duke University. His poems have appeared in a wide variety of literary journals, including “Blue Unicorn,” “The Road Not Taken,” “Live Canon Anthology,” “Pinesong,” “Coffin Bell,” and “Buddhist Poetry Review.”
“Exits” is his first book.

---

Interview

Welcome to TRB! Please give our readers a brief introduction about yourself before we begin. 

Thanks for the warm welcome.  I’ll be delighted to provide an introduction that goes beyond the bare bones info in my Author Bio.

I am:  an author in multiple genres;  an academic physician and neuro-ophthalmologist and who served on the faculty at Duke University until 2004;  a former chief executive of a vision benefits company;  and an inventor.

My mother was an artist who introduced me to Impressionist and Modern art before I could read.  My father, by contrast, was an antitrust attorney.  These two divergent influences — aesthetic appreciation from mom, and logic and rationality from dad — both find expression in my various endeavors, including poetry.

On the health front, I’ve been struggling with the spinal cord variant of multiple sclerosis (MS) for twenty-four years.  The disease has caused partial paralysis of my right leg, but the good news is that I’m still able to stand up and ambulate independently with a walker.

Finally, I’m a lifelong dog lover.  So, you might ask, why don’t you currently have a dog?  The answer is that my beloved yorkipoo Dinky passed away in 2012, and I still think about her and grieve for her every day.

Please tell us something about your book other than what we have read in the blurb?

The poems in Exits were written between 2003 and the present.  Each poem was crafted in isolation; I had no intention of putting together a collection until 2022, at which point my concept was to incorporate what I considered to be my best work into a book entitled Line Drawings.  It was only during the curating process that I realized that many of the poems I’d selected were centered around issues of mortality — disease and decline, death and remembrance.  I then decided to curate a more concise collection that cohered by virtue of a unifying theme, and Exits was born.

Please tell us something about your book other than what we have read in the blurb?

The poems in Exits were written between 2003 and the present.  Each poem was crafted in isolation; I had no intention of putting together a collection until 2022, at which point my concept was to incorporate what I considered to be my best work into a book entitled Line Drawings.  It was only during the curating process that I realized that many of the poems I’d selected were centered around issues of mortality — disease and decline, death and remembrance.  I then decided to curate a more concise collection that cohered by virtue of a unifying theme, and Exits was born.

What is that one message that you’re trying to get across to the readers in this book?

The book doesn’t convey a single message.  The constituent poems explore the subject of mortality from a variety of perspectives.  One can think of the collection as a meditation on mortality, nature, and the cycle of life.

Which poems in the collection are your favourites?

“Seeds” is the best sonnet in the collection, and “Syringe” is probably the most original and creative long poem I’ve ever written.  “Arachnidæa:  Line Drawings” seems to connect with readers, given that it was a finalist in one statewide competition and was awarded 2^nd prize in another statewide competition.

What inspired you to write this book?  An idea, some anecdote, a dream or something else?

I think that my focus on the finite nature of our biological selves derived from three sources.  First, I was raised without any religious training, so from a very young age, I was left on my own to ponder the enormity of the universe, time and eternity, and the meaning of existence.  Second, as a physician and neuro-ophthalmologist, I’ve cared for numerous patients with serious and/or life-threatening diseases.  And third, since 1999, I’ve had to deal with multiple sclerosis and the ramifications of that disease for life expectancy.  It seems likely that these three factors have influenced the content of my writing, either consciously or unconsciously.

How long did it take you to write this particular book?

As noted above, the twenty poems in Exits were written sporadically over a two-decade span of time, beginning in 2003.

What are your writing ambitions?  Where do you see yourself 5 years from today?

I hope to be alive in five years!  At my age (67), and having no choice but to cope with a neurological condition that’s almost invariably progressive, planning for the future often feels like a fool’s errand.

Are you working on any other poems presently?

At present, all of my energy is focused on the publication process.  I also anticipate taking the steps necessary to introduce Exits to as many readers as possible.  Once these activities are behind me, I look forward to resuming the writing life.

Why have you chosen this genre?  Or do you write in multiple genres?

Over the course of my life, I’ve written in multiple genres:  poetry, short fiction, scientific articles published in peer-reviewed medical journals, book chapters in neuro-ophthalmology texts, and U.S. Patent 4,477,158 (written by me, not by intellectual property attorneys).

When did you decide to become a writer?  Was it easy for you to follow your passion or did you have to make some sacrifices along the way?

I began writing independently of schoolwork when I was nine.  On the one hand, I scribbled rhyming poems in pencil on the cardboard that came with my father’s laundered shirts.  On the other hand, I wrote essays on the structure and functions of the human body.  By the end of that year, I had drafted enough material for an illustrated manuscript on human anatomy and physiology.  This of course was never published, but it did anticipate my future career as a physician.

With respect to writing poetry, the major sacrifice turned out to be my choice of academic medicine as a career.  After I graduated from Amherst College, I trained for ten years to become a physician, ophthalmologist, and neuro-ophthalmologist.  In 1987, I was recruited to Duke University as Chief of Neuro-Ophthalmology, eventually achieving a rank of Associate Professor with tenure.  I ended up serving on the full-time faculty for seventeen years.

Some physicians are able to write poetry throughout their medical careers.  I didn’t belong to that group.  For me, maintaining a consultative practice in neuro-ophthalmology, training residents and fellows, publishing clinical research papers in medical journals, and carrying out a variety of administrative responsibilities was all-consuming.

While the instinct to write poetry was completely suppressed throughout this 26-year period, it was not extinguished.  As I cut back on academic responsibilities during my last year at Duke, that instinct began to slowly reassert itself.

What is your writing ritual?  How do you do it?

I have always been undisciplined with respect to writing poems, as evidenced by the fact that I have no set writing schedule.  In contrast to most other poets, I lack the ability to sit down daily at my desk and call forth ideas and/or personal experiences to serve as the basis for new poems.  Nor have I ever relied on writing prompts to prime my poetry pump.  Instead, I wait for lightning to strike (or, mixing metaphors, for the Muse to whisper in my ear).  The unpredictability of this approach means that I never know when the next poem will materialize.

Once I begin writing, however, I become intensely focused.  The key for me is to occupy a mental space where words, sounds, rhythms, concepts, and metaphorical possibilities freely and continuously enter the mind, while at the same time applying critical filters to eliminate the 99.9% of options that lack usefulness or merit.  Those filters are internal, personal and idiosyncratic.  They don’t relate to prevailing trends in poetry, to contemporary poets, or to the work of historical poets.

When fully engaged and maximally productive, my efforts typically result in four new lines of poetry per day (derived from perhaps a dozen pages of notes and drafts).

How do you prefer to write – computer/laptop, typewriter, dictation or longhand with a pen?

I often begin as I did in childhood, with pencil and paper.  After sketching out a preliminary concept or drafting a few auspicious words or phrases or stanzas, I transition to composing in Word on a laptop.

What are your 5 favourite books?

I would find it difficult to identify my favourite books because I’m unsure about what criteria to apply in the selection process — enjoyment?  literary merit?  historical importance?  subject matter?

I do think I can identify the books that have had the greatest influence on my philosophy and on my writing:

1. Nausea by Jean-Paul Sartre
2. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig
3. How Does a Poem Mean? by John Ciardi
4. Leonardo Da Vinci by Walter Isaacson
5. A Little Book on Form by Robert Hass

How do you deal with Writer’s Block?

Given that so-called “writer’s block” describes my natural state, I allow it to persist until it no longer does.

What advice would you give to aspiring writers?

As a debut author, I’m hardly qualified to be doling out advice to other writers.  I’m nevertheless happy to share some of the lessons I’ve learned while writing and compiling the poems for Exits:

Write poems that represent your unique aesthetic sensibilities.  Try not to be overly influenced by prevailing trends or contemporary poetic styles.

Edit mercilessly over an extended period.  Satisfying first drafts often begin to show their flaws only after sufficient time has elapsed to afford an objective assessment.

Be prepared for an abrupt shift into business mode when you transition from writing your book to publishing it.

Thank you, author Stephen, for taking out the time to answer our questions and for all your thought-provoking and interesting answers!

---

About the Book

---

If you are an author and wish to be featured as our guest or if you are a publicist and want to get your author featured on TRB, then please get in touch directly by e-mail at thereadingbud@gmail.com