The Starbeck Orion Issue #6 Showcasing: Peter J Donnelly, Page 25 of 25

A Feast Of Words And Image

Almond Blossom is published in my collection Solving the Puzzle published by Alien Buddha Press in 2023.  It previously appeared in the Fragmented Voices magazine on 12 April 2023:

https://fragmentedvoices.com/2023/04/12/almond-blossom-by-peter-j-donnelly/

Showcase Interview

Q:. A lot of these poems are first person. What encouraged you to do this?

A: I don't think I needed any encouragement,  it is what comes naturally to me. Even if I'm writing about somebody else, I very often end up putting myself in, and referring to myself as 'I'.

Q:. Both in this and your previous collection there is an emphasis on the domestic environment. What inspires you to write about this rather than the outside?

A: To an extent I think you can only really write about what you know. I spend a lot of time alone so perhaps am more aware of my domestic environment than I would be if I had other people to distract me from it. 

Q: What made you want to include poetry about other artworkers, such as ceramicists?

A: I had written a lot about other writers. 'Seeing Where They're Made' was written very soon after my visit to Pateley Bridge, including Fiona Mazza's studio. It obviously made quite an impression on me. I had received a piece of her artwork as a birthday gift a few months previously and seeing where it was made and the person who made it inspired me to write about the item I'd had on my wall for a while and the surroundings of the place where it was created

Q:10. How influenced by memoir and diary form are some of these poems?

I have certainly been influenced by memoirs and diaries that I have read, for example the writings of Alan Bennett, and the autobiography and other works of Margot Asquith, whom I may be related to, though this can't be proved. She is the subject of one of my poems in 'Solving the Puzzle'. I have kept diaries myself in the past, and still write quite a lot of letters. Many of my poems take the form of letters. 

Q: Having read your book what do you want the reader to leave with?

A: I hope they will feel moved by the book and want to read it again, that some of the poems they will remember for a long time to come, and that they will want to read more of my work. I would like them to identify with some of the poems, that thy will have a sense of my voice and recognise characteristics of mine.

Q: What projects are you working on at the moment?

A: I haven't written a poem for a couple of weeks.  I hope I shall write one soon, what about I'm not sure. I plan to start putting together my next collection next year