Stephen C. Pollock’s debut collection, Exits, nods to the literary traditions of years past while simultaneously speaking to the present moment. Multilayered and musical, the poems in Pollock’s “Exits” (Windtree Press, June 29, 2023) have drawn comparisons to the work of Eavan Boland and Seamus Heaney. With bold imagery, attention to form, and a consistent throughline rooted in the theme of mortality, his collection responds to contemporary anxieties surrounding death and the universal search for meaning in life’s transience.
“Full of wit, insight, and provocative imagery, Exits is a masterful collection by award-winning poet Stephen C. Pollock. Some are sonnets as artful as any by Shakespeare or Ben Jonson.” —IndieReader, 5.0 stars ★★★★★
“A unique and diverse group of harmonious poems…producing the multilayered depth that distinguishes lasting poetry.” —BookLife Reviews, EDITOR’S PICK
“Exits is an accomplished, beautifully produced poetry chapbook. Readers of contemporary poetry will find a thought-provoking work of literary merit in these pages.” —BlueInk Review
“Pollock’s poetry is brilliant. The exploration of form is thoroughly enjoyable and inspiring. Many of Pollock’s pieces are reminiscent of Irish poets like Eavan Boland and Seamus Heaney.” —Kristiana Reed, Editor-in-Chief, Free Verse Revolution
What first drew you to poetry?
As was true for many children of my generation, I was introduced to the world of poetry through the work of Theodor Geisel, a.k.a. Dr. Seuss. His book “Yertle the Turtle” was a particularly strong influence (though I had no idea at the time that the story was allegorical, a satire on Hitler’s Germany).
I began writing rhymed poems on shirt cardboard at age nine. Later, in high school, my sophomore year English teacher had his students maintain a poetry notebook. Mine was a repository for selected poems by favorite authors (e.g. Sylvia Plath); personal reactions to those poems; photos and illustrations cut from magazines and pasted onto the pages; and my own abysmal attempts to write verse.
My interest in poetry intensified at Amherst College where, as a biology major on the pre-medical track, I took four rigorous poetry courses. During the last of these, in what I like to describe as an act of love masquerading as mania, I stopped attending classes, isolated myself from friends, ate and slept reluctantly, and spent five straight weeks writing a metaphysical poem on the theme of subjective vs. objective reality. On the basis of that poem, I was awarded the Rolfe Humphries Poetry Prize — “To that member of the senior class who, among his classmates, has achieved the greatest sense of poetic form in his undergraduate writing.”
What's your writing routine like? Do you sit down to purposely write poems, do they come sporadically, or some combination?
I would characterize my approach to writing poems as sporadic, unpredictable, and intense.
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 many 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 inspirational lightning to strike. 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. I often begin with pencil and paper, sketching out a preliminary concept or drafting a few auspicious words or lines or stanzas. At some point, I transition to composing in Word on a laptop.
The key for me is to occupy a mental space where words, sounds, rhythms, ideas, and metaphorical possibilities freely and continuously enter the mind. Simultaneously, the critic in me applies filters to eliminate the 99.9% of language 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 most 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 long did it take you to write the collection, Exits? Did you edit each poem and what was your process for organizing the collection?
Nearly all of the poems in Exits were written between 2003 and 2021, before the idea of authoring a book ever came to mind. About two years ago, I decided to incorporate what I considered to be my best work into a book entitled Line Drawings. However, during the process of selecting poems, I noticed that a substantial number were related to various aspects of mortality. This led me to curate a themed collection, and Exits was born.
Editing, often over months or years, is critical to achieving the desired outcome. I’ve learned through experience that a satisfying first draft almost always begins to exhibit its flaws after sufficient time has passed to afford an objective assessment. For example, the eight-line poem “(eclipse),” which appears in Exits, underwent nineteen revisions over as many years.
Organizing the collection was a challenge! I printed all of the poems and arranged them on the dining room table for what seemed an eternity. Most of the decisions regarding order were intuitive. That said, a few “rules” were followed: Long poems were made to alternate with shorter poems and vice-versa; more challenging poems were placed next to more accessible poems; and of the five sonnets in the collection, no two were allowed to be consecutive.
Who are some of your favorite poets and/or poems?
One might reasonably assume that my influences would include certain poets. However, upon reflection, I realize that I’m more influenced by poems than by the poets who wrote them, and only a limited number of poems comprise my list of “favorites.” I suspect that it’s these works that have embedded themselves in my subconscious and, in the aggregate, constitute an eclectic influence on my writing. With apologies for the length, here’s a relatively complete list:
The Weed Elizabeth Bishop
The Man-Moth Elizabeth Bishop
The Second Comin W. B. Yeats
Design
Robert Frost
Stopping by Woods Robert Frost
A Patch of Old Snow Robert Frost
The Road Not Taken Robert Frost
Hope is the Thing with Feathers Emily Dickinson
I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died Emily Dickinson
I Felt A Funeral in My Brain Emily Dickinson
Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird Wallace Stevens
Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock T. S. Eliot
Viking Dublin: Trial Pieces Seamus Heaney
The Force That Through the Green Fuse Dylan Thomas
Drives the Flower
Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night Dylan Thomas
Fern Hill
Dylan Thomas
Nick and the Candlestick Sylvia Plath
The Moon and the Yew Tree Sylvia Plath
The Applicant
Sylvia Plath
Cut
Sylvia Plath
Song
Muriel Rukeyser
Convergence of the Twain Thomas Hardy
The Flea
John Donne
A Valediction Forbidding Mourning John Donne
To His Coy Mistress Andrew Marvell
Ars Poetica Archibald MacLeish
Wish
Caitlin Doyle
Sonnet Nabokov
Daniel Bosch
Whale Bone
Steven Brown
What's next for you? Another poetry collection? A novel?
Given my age (67), reduced life expectancy (due to longstanding multiple sclerosis), and my undisciplined and unpredictable writing schedule, I doubt that additional books will be forthcoming. But one never knows…
Blog Tour Schedule:
July 6: The Reading Bud (review)
July 7: Review Tales by Jeyran Main (interview)
July 10: The Reading Bud (interview)
July 11: the bookworm (review)
July 13: The Book Lover's Boudoir (review)
July 18: Lavender Orchids (review)
July 20: Savvy Verse & Wit (review)
July 25: Celtic Lady's Reviews (interview)
July 27: BooksParlour (review)
Aug. 7: The Book Connection (review)
Aug. 8: True Book Addict (review)
Aug. 21: Anthony Avina (interview)
Aug. 23: Anthony Avina (review)
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