Welcome to this blog and to Llandeilo Kathy. We're very happy that you could join us this year. Please tell us about the books you'll be bringing to the book fair
I'll be bringing my two latest poetry collections The Shadow House and Gardening With Deer to the Llandeilo
Book Fair. Gardening With Deer was
published in 2016, and represents a considerable shift in style and
subject-matter from my previous collections. Whilst I have a continuing
interest in the landscape – both urban and rural – and in some senses would
describe myself as a 'landscape poet',
since giving up my day job I have been able to develop my other passions
for archaeology, history, astronomy and
science, all of which have fed into my poetry. I like to explore and write in
'other voices', whether it is from the perspective of an historical or literary
character, an animal, or even a non-animate object. I love the intense research
involved in this process, and the chance to broaden my knowledge and learn new
things. My poem Re-Entry, for example,
which is about the astronauts' return from the Apollo 11 Moon Mission, gave me
the opportunity to read the NASA voice-transcripts from the mission, and opened
up a whole new world of language and imagery. Of all my three poetry
collections, I think I am the most proud of Gardening
With Deer because I felt I had been able to marry these diverse interests
together in a much better and more mature way than in my previous books.
Why did you decide to
come to the Llandeilo Book Fair?
Well, the obvious answer to this is to sell books! It is not
easy for a poet to flog their wares on the open market. There are a lot of
extremely good and prolific poets out there, all publishing amazing work, and
the buying public would very much prefer to purchase a good novel than a book
of poetry: in the main, poetry tends to be bought by other poets. Publishers
also expect you to try and sell your books, and to be proactive in obtaining
readings and other events where you can showcase your work. I had already
attended both the Carmarthen and Tenby Book Fairs, and enjoyed them very much,
but wanted to come to Llandeilo because I had heard great reports of the
Christmas Book Fair which I had been unable to attend.
Do you have a special
connection to Wales?
I have lived in Wales since 1972, but I would say I was a
typical 'Liverpool Welsh', having been born in the city of mixed Irish/Welsh
ancestry. Part of my decision to come to a Welsh university was because I felt
a very strong connection to Wales and to its history and culture. I don't speak
Welsh, but grew up among relatives who were Welsh speaking, and so I always
felt an affinity with that side of my heritage.
What is your personal
background?
I first came to Wales to do a BA in English Literature at
Lampeter (now the University of Wales, Trinity Saint David), and then worked in
the university library there for many years. I gave up my job in 2014 to do an
MA in Creative Writing at the university, and now work as a full-time writer. Apart
from writing, I am a keen gardener. My partner and I have a garden with a large
pond, which attracts frogs, dragonflies, and a raft of wild mallards who fly up
from Aberaeron to rampage round the flower beds. We also have visiting badgers,
foxes, and hedgehogs. It's a perfect life for a poet!
Who are your
favourite authors?
An impossible question to answer! My favourite writers are
those that I happen to be reading at the time, whether it's Seamus Heaney,
Garcia Lorca, Elizabeth Bishop or Mary Oliver. I read poetry all the time:
current favourites are Jo Shapcott, Alice Oswald, Katrina Naomi and Paul Henry,
simply because those are the ones I currently have open on my bedside table.
I've just finished Cynan Jones' latest book Cove, which is simply stunning. I
also love the work of James Rebanks and John Lewis-Stempel. I think, though,
that in terms of the novel, Kazuo Ishiguro is the one that I go back to time
and time again, for the sheer beauty of his language.
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