Scott Ferry helps our Veterans heal as a RN in the Seattle area. His two most recent books are Sapphires on the Graves from Glass Lyre Press and 500 Hidden Teeth from Meat For Tea Press. More of his work can be found @ ferrypoetry.com.
1 - How did your first book or chapbook change your life? How does your most recent work compare to your previous? How does it feel different?
My first published book was The only thing that makes sense is to grow back in 2019. I was really trying to win a Write Bloody Contest and wrote many of the poems for that purpose. But when Moon Tide Press and Eric Morago became interested in my project, I focused on the work itself as a whole, as an entity. It is that book that many of us has to write which is the core bile and lymph of our story and the answer to: who am I? I felt I needed this signature piece, this clear portrait.
My recent work does not need to tell as much of a narrative, it doesn’t need to explain or legitimize itself. I am writing from the ether, catching fleshy cicadas out of the air and spitting them on to the page.
2 - How did you come to poetry first, as opposed to, say, fiction or non-fiction?
Most of my poems have written themselves, honestly. From the beginning it has flowed easily. I didn’t choose this shit, it chose me. I am just a monkey mouthpiece for the ghosts.
3 - How long does it take to start any particular writing project? Does your writing initially come quickly, or is it a slow process? Do first drafts appear looking close to their final shape, or does your work come out of copious notes?
Oh no, no notes besides maybe an idea or a vignette. I will write myself a note or an email to remember for later. An example is last night my son turned in his sleep and said “read it.” I wonder what book he wanted read to him? There is a poem there I will have to sit down and write. Once I open up to the subconscious, I just let it go out and direct it a bit and maybe fix a word later. Most of my poems are first and final drafts. I don’t agonize over them at all. They are better when they are allowed to just spring out and splat!
4 - Where does a poem usually begin for you? Are you an author of short pieces that end up combining into a larger project, or are you working on a "book" from the very beginning?
With the last two books I had an idea what I wanted to do from the beginning. Sapphires on the Graves was going to be a book of prose poems with very little punctuation and a cyclical and surreal feel. 500 Hidden Teeth began as a project where I was going to write 500 separate poems in one-line sentences. As the book progressed the sentences began to connect and waver and connect again and many of the sentences ended up as groups that could be seen as poems. Yet, my intent is that each sentence is still a poem and the whole book is one large poem. I like the last description best.
5 - Are public readings part of or counter to your creative process? Are you the sort of writer who enjoys doing readings?
I mean I love doing readings! I used to get nervous but now I don’t give two fucks. I know my poetry is solid, I am not going to fake being humble. I realized it is an ok thing to give myself, that confidence. I have done readings for like three people in an audience before and it was great! I love feeling the way the sound hits people. I also love hearing good poets read and let the hum of it all wash over me. I love the brotherhood of it. I wish I went to more readings, actually. Being a father of two doesn’t allow for lots of school night outings.
6 - Do you have any theoretical concerns behind your writing? What kinds of questions are you trying to answer with your work? What do you even think the current questions are?
I am always trying to deconstruct God, god, I, i, We, we. I try to find the places where the seams are coming apart and unravel them more. I bring the dead into the living room. I chase ancient trains into melting icecaps. I laugh and scream and rip out my throat and make it sing. I care about mankind, about innocence, about intent, about karma in real time. I will always lift the moon out of the well and feed the lampreys my fears. I can dig into my tendons and find lead. I can chew roots. I watch the crows. I burn most of it in the process of washing.
7 – What do you see the current role of the writer being in larger culture? Do they even have one? What do you think the role of the writer should be?
Shit. Like I said I am here for the harpies and the shadows and the veins. I only tell what I have heard in trance. My job is to go into that broken avalanche of ribs and bring out spells and ash. I strive for magic. I strive for honesty. In that place it is all one water.
8 - Do you find the process of working with an outside editor difficult or essential (or both)?
I haven’t really gotten much from editors, honestly. I have had my good friends (Lillian Necakov and Lauren Scharhag) to read things sometimes and give me feedback which many times I don’t use. I trust the original poem most of the time. In terms of producing a book, I am pretty hands-on with my cover art and layout. I feel that I have an eye for that and I don’t compromise much. I haven’t had problems or conflicts with publishers on this, thankfully. I see really great books of poems with really old-fashioned covers and it just irks me. At least use a cool font. Get some original art!
9 - What is the best piece of advice you've heard (not necessarily given to you directly)?
I heard something the other day which resonated with me. Don’t spend your time hoping people will be the way you want them to be. Deal with them as they are. Work on yourself to be that version. Focus inside, let go of expectation. That is freeing. Not that I have been able to do it .
10 - What kind of writing routine do you tend to keep, or do you even have one? How does a typical day (for you) begin?
I write at work a lot because I have a desk job that I can usually finish in a few hours. And my work group is pretty quiet. I also can write late at night, but that is less desirable.
11 - When your writing gets stalled, where do you turn or return for (for lack of a better word) inspiration?
I don’t stress it. I wait. I read poetry that I admire. I listen for triggers.
12 - What fragrance reminds you of home?
Cedar, eggs cooking, toast, cilantro, onion, coffee, the burnt smell of my gas fireplace, my roses and lilies, rain.
13 - David W. McFadden once said that books come from books, but are there any other forms that influence your work, whether nature, music, science or visual art?
I do a lot of photography. Mostly nature stuff, clouds trees reflections abstracts. I get much of my inspiration from images and patterns under the images and patterns. Music, usually KEXP. Jazz, shoegaze, some punk, REM, Radiohead. Lately a really cool band called Peel Dream Magazine. Any surrealistic art.
14 - What other writers or writings are important for your work, or simply your life outside of your work?
Lillian Necakov, Lauren Scharhag, Diane Seuss, Daniel McGinn, Douglas Cole, Gary Barwin, George Franklin, Connie Post are some of my contemporary favorites. Poetry that has flow and weirdness and honesty. Any Magical Realism, Marquez, Borges.
15 - What would you like to do that you haven't yet done?
Travel around Europe.
16 - If you could pick any other occupation to attempt, what would it be? Or, alternately, what do you think you would have ended up doing had you not been a writer?
Well, I was a high school English teacher for about 5 years. Big nope. I have heard that AI is ruining college teaching as well so teaching is out. I mean I would love to teach poetry. I am a licensed acupuncturist but it never paid the bills. I have a low-key nursing job which I love.
17 - What made you write, as opposed to doing something else?
Well it came naturally starting my junior year in high school. I certainly never made any money doing it. It is the way I get to shout into the wind.
18 - What was the last great book you read? What was the last great film?
I really liked Lauren Scharhag’s Screaming Intensifies a book of well-crafted horror stories. I read Diane Seuss’s last two books. Lillian and Gary’s book duck eats yeast, quacks, explodes; man loses eye was pretty mindblowing. Douglas Cole’s The Cabin at the End of the World, fantastic. George Franklin’s What the Angel Saw, What the Saint Refused is important.
As for a film, I watched Killing Eve in its entirety and it was the best series for me since Breaking Bad.
19 - What are you currently working on?
I am currently involved in two collaborations, one with Lindsey Royce using the art of Sarah Petruziello as ekphrastic prompts and one still very much in process with Aakriti Kuntal. Both are really stretching my ability to interface and bounce off other artists, which is wonderful.
I don’t have an individual project yet, but it will show up like a mole in my cat’s claws.
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