HR: Ok to start off could you tell us a bit about yourself and your poetry?
HB: I have been writing poetry now for about 35 years, although I also now write prose and attempt to write plays as well.I also do visual art - both painting and collagraphic prints. But Poetry is still my first love. I became interested in poetry through the work of Dylan Thomas - i was amazed by the vibrancy. My first big poetry "win" was the manchester International Poetry Prize in 1996 - this was a huge boost for me. I went on to win the Norwich poetry Prize, the Suffolk, the Devon and Dorset, the Sheffield Poetstars prize and the Ilkley Literature Performance Prize (twice). I have been widely published in magazines and anthologies over that time - I now perform at many national Poetry Festivals, was support for John Hegley at Beverley Folk Festival and read with Poet Laureate Andrew Motion at Beverley Laureate readings.
I like to make poetry accessible to as many people as possible - I like to make it fun and like it be uplifting !!!
HR: What about Dylan Thomas do you think gave it it's impact on you and made it so vibrant?
HB: For me personally, I think it is the Celtic connection. Both my parents were from Irish families - my fathers from Mayo and my mothers family were Liverpool Irish - some of whom also settled in Wales. So for me - the lyricism and the sound of the words coming pouring out of the page - taking no prisoners - was fantastic. The sheer breadth of the imagination seemed to say that you COULD dance and perform a little magic with words. (I was reading them at a time when, as a dancer I had been diagnosed with a very rare arthritis. I think this meant a lot to me to find another means by which I could continue to "dance" and be creative. Hope that makes sense.) For me, he is still my favourite poet to read - he dares to walk the edge.
HR: So coming from a performance arts background have you always written with live performance in mind or was it something that happened later?
HB: Yes, the performance thing that, for me has been more prevalent in the last 12 years or so. Before that i still performed, but it was only when I began trying to write for the stage that my old love of the greasepaint really surfaced - and I think my style of poetry changed then - to be more overtly FOR the medium of performance , if you will. Also because I like to incorporate comedy and humour in my work - there is nothing more life enhancing than when an audience "get" the joke (whether in prose or poem) and laughs. Performance is critical i think to the continued reality and good sense of poetry rather than some stuff that sits in a library, that no-one hears. (If a poem falls in a forest and no-one hears it .......????)
HR: I agree, i think poetry is much better when enjoyed out loud. Humour certainly comes through in your performance. So what work have you been doing for stage?
HB: the stage stuff was a play that was performed at last years York Literature Festival - (it was a section of 6 pieces that were done about the city of York - mine was looking back at my dad in York after the second world war when he was trying to get to America. ) Just recently I did a comedy sketch at the Theatre - called the Incredible mr. D'Arcy. Imagining Jane Austen as being a bit like Jordan ..... very irreverent. My new project is a 10-15 minute play on the life of Marilyn Monroe. And I am always chipping away at a longer play I hope to do about the Irish of York. Called - The Corner of Hope Street. I enjoy writing dialogue - dialogue is a bit of thing for me
HR: What about dialogue is it that draws you?
HB: Dialogue works me for me as a poet - by - allowing me to use many different voices, and pretend that they are mine (!!!!) Its a bit Peter sellers-ish, in a way - I like to experiment with voices, and alternate between all the different accents that make up our culture , when I do a performance of a piece. Whether this is Brummie or Scouse, West Indian, or American, or East European - I find this gives a piece of writing - a bit of colour and character - people seem to enjoy it, because we are all so familiar with the human voice in all its variations.
I like poets and writers who use natural, dialogue as well - and I find that American poetry draws me greatly. Billy Collins is a great favourite of mine ( and Raymond Carver's short stories.) To write is to listen in a way. To listen to others takes time - to listen to yourself - takes time AND guts. ( Am I being too Woody Allen here ?????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) Its a little early in the morning , and its raining, thats my excuse anyway.
HR: a strange analogy but I like it! Poetry is a fairly neglected area of literature, often languishing in a small and dusty section of a book shop, or at the back of our shelves with old, scribbled on A'level texts. Why do you think it fares so poorly and how would you recommend someone wanting to approach poetry?
HB: yes, as you correctly say - Poetry does fare poorly - and, I could be a bit controversial here - and say - a couple of things. I think poetry has been allowed to get away with being not ACCESSIBLE and obscure for far too long. It needs a kick up the prverbial - and to get a "real" job, if you get my drift. I call it the Chaucer's armpit school of poetry, where people are given the number of the Samaritans as they leave a reading. (!!!!!!!!!!) - Life is tough enough without someone reading looking at the floor, apologising for the fact that they write poetry and then filling it with either therapy for themselves or ..something that requires you go and look up fifteen different references - three of which are in Latin.
I would therefore someone to approach poetry with a large stick and a heavy dose of common sense. If it doesnt fire their imagination, their heart and soul - if they begin to feel like they're coming down with flu - or that every moment is a Monday morning - then I would advise they move away from the book. Rapidly. However - if a poem leaves them feeling that they recognise a fellow human being - then stick with it. the poet just may have spilled blood to write
HR: Well Un:Bound is full of avid readers rather than floor staring poets so probably a less controversial view here. :)
With that in mind would you be willing to share an excerpt on one of your poems with us know?
HB: here is a short excerpt from A poem I often start or end with -
TIGERS -
I know that between today or tomorrow, this or that may happen
I know that when you're between two people, one feels left out
I know that when you say youre not worried that is not really how you feel ..
I know that love is a word in need of translation
I know religion is no excuse
I know to start caring again is as hard as to stop
I know that without permission everything is possible
I know that there are people who never dream
I know that to dream of white means death
i know that to dream of tigers is unlikely and not to be wished for ,
but nonetheless, I do -
even though I know that tigers should not be held by their tails.
HR: *grin* cool thank you. So where can people find more of you poems or hear you read?
HB: At the moment People can hear me read at national festivals - (Scarborough Preview event Lit Fest on March 11th at Scarborough Library 7 p.m. ; Headingley Literature Festival - March 19th - headingley new Club, Launch Event at 7 p.m. - I have a bid in to do Glastonbury, fingers crossed .. and also at manchester International Festival later in year in October. I am reading at Whitby Museum in Whitby Folk Week (and other events hopefully) on August 25th. And in Suffolk as part of a Schubert/Vienneses salon event - a major event for Suffolk Poetry on June 5th.
People can contact me on this e mail (ph.hobbit at tiscali dot co.uk) - if they want to get a book or a c.d. I am happy to give details. my current book - Zuzu's Petals was launched at Edinburgh Festival. (Other work can be seen on www.poetrypf.co.uk - and my own website is in process of being done. )
HR: Ok finally then and just for fun, since we are mostly a genre fiction blog, what or who is your favourite supernatural being?
HB:favourite supernatural being - would have to be the Hobbit - I want a Hobbit house one day , like the one in the film - with a huge round door and grass on the roof. Never underestimate a hobbit , or a poet .......!!!!
HR: Thank you for joining us on Un:Bound.
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