BY G. CONNOR SALTER
Tell us a little bit about yourself.
I am a poet, editor and many other things who lives in North Devon, a beautiful if rainy district in south-western England. My poems have been published in several magazines and ended up as four books, the latest of which Versing the Mystery has been published by Arouca Press. I am a practicing Catholic with some background in theology who is inspired by faith, mythology, history, my local land and seascape, not to mention conversations with cats.
What first inspired you to start writing?
I played a bit at creative writing as a child and like many another adolescent produced awful verses as a sort of literary acne. However, I first started writing seriously at the grand old age of twenty-five. This was after I had read The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, which is a book about unblocking creativity. Having started some of its exercises, I found that words started forming patterns in my head. The poems started coming and I had to write them down.
How did you first become interested in poetry?
I was enchanted by the poetry of Shakespeare I was taught at school, in his sonnets and plays. Studying Twelfth Night was a fun and enlightening experience (I would read out the part of Malvolio in class and still think he is not so bad as many think). In my teens I came upon some of the poems of John Donne and loved their knotty lines of meter and playful thought. When I was sixteen I was introduced to the poems of Robert Frost which had a big impact on me, the thoughtful, at times dark poems rooted in a landscape and people not so very different from my own. However I would say that my serious interest in poetry began in my twenties, when as I have already said, words started doing things inside me.
What is your favorite school of poetry?
I try not to confine myself to any “school.” Great poetry ultimately transcends such confines. However, much as I enjoy some free verse, I generally prefer formal verse, either blank or rhyming. Perhaps because I am naturally a chaotic person, I crave order and overt discipline. Some of my favourite poems are sonnets, such as the holy sonnets of John Donne and the many fine sonnets of Gerard Manley Hopkins which combine reverence and insight into God and nature so exquisitely.
What started you on the journey from writing privately to sharing it with the world as a published author?
In 2015 I started writing poems and posting them on my Facebook page, attracting a little attention along the way. When Lent came, I decided to write and post Biblical meditations in sonnet form as a religious exercise and later that year I was discovered by a kind lady who ran a small publishing firm. She approached me with the idea of publishing my religious verses and when I realized that she was willing to do so at her own expense I gladly took up her gracious offer. So was published my first book Sonnets from the Spirit in December 2015 and the start of my career as a published author in earnest. Perhaps ideally I would have waited a little longer to build up more of a profile, not least in magazine publications and to gather a more polished body of work but I thank God of the privilege of seeing my work in print and touching a few lives for the better in the process.
Some of your poems contain historical characters. What is your process in terms of research and bringing those characters to life?
I do take seriously the need to research for my work. When writing about Greek mythological themes, I make sure I do not confuse the goddess Hera with Aphrodite. I try to think how I might think and feel in the position of the historical characters in my poems. One does not have to always sympathize but empathy is important. It is vital not to present characters as two-dimensional caricatures, even people who do monstrous things are still people, with all the complexity and mixture of good and evil that entails. We are all human beings, and there is a Jezebel, Herod and Attila the Hun in us all.
What is your method to integrate characters and situations into your work?
I try not to be clunkily anachronistic, though in representing characters from different ages and languages I do need to translate for a twenty-first century audience. Many of my poems are dramatic monologues in the character of historical figures, such as King Herod, or the Emperor Constantine. I do some historical research to ground my work in reality and avoid taking unforgivable liberties (I must not pretend Herod was a pacifist or Constantine was father of the year), but I do not pretend to be a historian and as a poet can perhaps benefit a little more from the willing suspension of disbelief than say a historical novelist.
What are your favorite and least favorite parts of writing poetry?
My least favourite part of writing poetry in editing and sometimes having to admit a poem simply does not work, though a line or two might be salvageable for another project. If you are serious about writing poetry or anything else as more than a private hobby or therapy, then you need to hold your work to professional standards of craft. Sincere and passionate good intentions do not excuse cliches, bad rhymes or clunky meter etc. Being able to take constructive criticism from others and being honest with yourself is vital. Occasionally you must look at your writing in a cold hard sober light, say “this is dreadful” and start again.
What do you find more enjoyable, first drafts or editing/rewriting to get the final version?
First drafts are fun, it is great suddenly finding that I can write, often an idea bothers me like a little stone in my show but I can’t quite get it in writing. It is a joy and relief when the words finally flow. There is the saying “write drunk edit sober” and there is a pleasant intoxication to writing out a first draft. Editing/rewriting can feel more like a hangover, but it is essential, what seems right in the heat of the moment can be seen clearly and harsher later. It is not always pleasant but it is important and I try to take all the necessary stages of creation seriously.
How have you gone about publicizing yourself and your works?
Like most writers, I am an introverted socially awkward sort who is not a born salesman. However, a writer does need to understand marketing and sales, I have organized and advertised quite a few of poetry readings in libraries and churches where I might hope to find a sympathetic ear or two. Social media has its uses; I post my poems there and used LinkedIn and Facebook to promote my book.
Do you have any advice for authors sharing their work at public events?
Rehearse! Try to read at a speed and volume which allows your words to sink deeply into the audience. Express feeing without being melodramatic. Try not to panic, being an author sharing work in a public event can be scary but it’s not like being a Green Beret in Vietnam. Most people, especially the sort choosing to come and witness you sharing your work, are not really so bad. I’m pretty sure nobody will come to your event to hoot at you and throw rotten turnips in your direction. Remember that, smile, take a deep breath and trust in your muse.
What is some advice you would give aspiring authors, especially those focusing on your craft?
Keep going! It is not always easy and sometimes alligator wrestling might seem a cheerier and less difficult pastime but if you persevere—even if you just write a few sentences a day—you will accomplish something worthwhile in the end. Write everyday, keep a journal if nothing else and read, read, read. Be honest with yourself as an editor. Read all sorts of things, fiction and non-fiction inside and outside your comfort zone, explore all kinds of genres. Everything is interesting if you bother to take an interest. Above all else pay attention. There is a story to tell about everything in this wonderful terrible universe, just still yourself and listen, then the story which is seeking you to tell it shall find you.
More information about Christopher Villiers’ work can be found on his Facebook page as well as his website, The Rhymester’s Revels:
Fellowship & Fairydust 