Welcome to BookView Interview, a conversation series where BookView talks to authors.

Recently, we interviewed author Enne Baker about his writing and his recently released, The White Colossus, a collection of 20 poems that’s highlighted by moments of startling insight into life’s journey as it explores relevant and complex themes of love, death, dreams, sexuality, the nature of the universe, cosmic energies, and tyranny. (Read the review here.)

 Enne Baker is an American poet with Montenegrin lineage. Born in Peć, Kosovo, Baker studied at Queens College in Queens, New York. He writes and publishes poems on Medium.

How did you decide on this title?

I wanted to have a title that was all-encompassing around the collection. So, picking apart the title of the book, The White Colossus, has many variations of meanings. White, signifying all things pure and innocent, angelic, and God meaning. Colossus—a gigantic, malevolent, and intimidating presence. Without spoilers, the titular poem itself in the collection is probably the most ambiguous, and people ask me what it means, “The White Colossus.” Still, in my estimation, I choose not to say it because I don’t want people to take my word as the author so seriously and water down their imaginations. But what I’ve said so far, one can use these tools to derive their meanings if they want to.

What inspired the premise of your book?

This will sound very vague, but I think it was simply the love of language and testing the boundaries of language that this book bore out of fruition. I just thought of subjects of my life through introspection, and looking through that window of introspection, I could internalize what I was seeing and translate what I saw through this book.

Do you read your book reviews? Do they please you or annoy you? Do you think you can learn a lot from reading criticism about your work?

I love the good, the bad, and the ugly book reviews. I love them all. Even the worst faith review is pleasing to me because just the fact that someone is taking the time to sit down and give it a chance accomplishes my goal as an author, making my heart feel good and full. One doesn’t have to love my book as long as it’s given a chance.

Do you Google yourself?

I wouldn’t say I Google my name in particular, but I Google my book usually when I’m bored or have free time. I Google it to see if a new review has arisen or if a book blogger may mention it.

How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have?

I have so many fragments that it’s starting to get sad. I’m still writing and publishing poems through Medium and submitting them to journals. However, in terms of completing another manuscript or finishing another book, it’s still a long journey for me. I think it’s because I see how well The White Colossus is received, and I’m setting the bar too high for another collection, filling a lot of self-doubts. Pray for me.

Is there anything you want to unlearn?

There are so many things that I should unlearn and learn simultaneously. But as a stubborn human, there’s a saying that I recently resonated with so much lately: “humans gonna human.”

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