Mar 31, 2014

MARTIN WOODSIDE--MY WRITING PROCESS

Many thanks to MARGENTO for inviting me to this amazing tour blog, and you can see his response here!

1) What am I working on?  
I'm currently working on a series of poems about masculinity, tentatively entitled "Institute of Masculine Studies."  The series includes poems about fictional characters such as Dirty Harry, Magnum P.I. and historical figures, like the iconic thinkers described in Laertius's "Lives of the Philosophers."

2) How does my work differ from others of its genre?  
Who else writes poetry about Magnum PI?  I'm even working on an appreciative mustache--so this is "method writing."

3) Why do I write what I do? 
Because it makes sense to me, and it's fun.  I once wrote a short poetic series on Frank Sinatra, and it was really liberating.  It allowed me to get into character, while at the same time getting my hands on something that felt real and true.  At the end of the day, these poems get a laugh, but they also offer a sustained meditation not only on American masculinity but my own complicated relationship with it.

4) How does your writing process work?  
Erratically.  I'm an academic as well as a creative writer, and sometimes these vocations nourish one other; at other times, they just get in each other's way.  Basically, the passing days offer a lot of brief windows that I try to make the most of.  I also have to watch a lot of old Clint Eastwood movies; in that way, you can say I'm quite process-oriented.

Martin Woodside

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