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

Recently, we talked to Phil Fletcher-Stokes about his writing and his recently published poetry collection, Dying of Boredom and Despair, a thought-provoking exploration of human emotions and the complexities of navigating life’s challenges (Read the review here).

When did you first start writing poetry, and what was it that inspired you to start?

I’ve been honing my skills as a writer of ‘poetry’ since I was around 27–50 years ago–and it’s been a long hard slog that’s brought me no dividends so far due to the opposition of the poetry establishment to new approaches to this ‘closed ranks’ genre. (They try to make you look stupid if you don’t follow their style of obscure writing.)

When did you know this poetry collection was “finished”? Did you set out to write a specific set of poems for this collection, or had you already written much of the poetry and then it became clear that they were tied into one work?

I post my poetry on Allpoetry, a really good site for poets. I had nearly 400 poems on there that I decided to publish in 2 collections and which are now available to buy on Amazon. There is no direct connectivity in the poems; they are not thematic. Just random observations of the human condition.

If you could tell your younger writing self one thing, what would it be?

Unless you’re part of the inner circle of the ‘academic poetry establishment’ where all the prize money and awards are, you’re going to be in for a long hard lonely slog. I have a severe sight impairment which makes poetry performance gigs virtually impossible for me to attend and as far as I’m concerned the UK poetry scene is as dead as the Dodo. There is battle rap but that’s too extreme even for me.

Who (or what) are your writing inspirations?

An English ‘punk’ poet called John Cooper Clarke who broke the stranglehold of ‘the establishment back in the 1970s when I didn’t have a clue of what was going on out there. I also love the speaking voice of the late great Jim Morrison. If he’d lived and become a performing poet he would have ‘blown the audience away’ even if he was only reciting the alphabet.

Have you learned anything about yourself through the process of writing poetry?

Only that some people are born to fail and other people like myself have failure forced upon them. I’ve been a voice in the wilderness for the last 50 years.

Dying of Boredom and Despair is the first book in a series of work. Can you give us a sneak peek at what to expect in the next installment?

Part Two is already finished and published under the title of Dying of Lassitude and Ennui, also available to buy on Amazon under my author name of Phil Fletcher-Stokes.

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