Paul Muldoon
Paul Muldoon is an Irish poet and recipient of the Pulitzer Prize and T.S. Elliot Prize. He has taught at Oxford University and Princeton University. President of the Poetry Society in the United Kingdom, Muldoon is also the Poetry Editor for The New Yorker.
Published 1/26/14
Published 1/26/14
Interviewed by Lena Desmond & Ashli Rosario
Howl: What is the inspiration behind your poetry?
Muldoon: Poetry comes from anywhere and everywhere. It might begin with a phrase one has never quite come across, an image, a connection between two things that is unexpected. My favorite poem is John Donne's "The Flea," in which he claims that a flea is a marriage bed.
Howl: What advice do you have for budding writers?
Muldoon: I recommend reading as much poetry as you possibly can. That shouldn't be poetry for children, by the way. One doesn't learn about music by listening to music for children. Hang with the grown-ups. Donne, Dickinson, Dante, Bob Dylan.
Howl: Why is poetry the medium of expression you’ve chosen?
Muldoon: At first I thought it was the easy way out in that poems are generally short and I assumed that that means they can be written in a short time. I suppose that I didn't so much choose poetry as allow it to choose me. I think I'd have preferred to be a musician or a painter.
Howl: What is your writing/editing process like?
Muldoon: I write very, very slowly. The idea is that the poem looks as if no time went into it, but that's what takes time. I never know what I'm doing or where I'm going. And I edit as I go along. I write line by line rather than drafts.
Howl: What experiences from your own life shape your writing and how?
Muldoon: Again, everything and anything. My life in Ireland, in America, in the city, in the country. Often the experiences are imagined rather than real. A lot is made up. That keeps life interesting.
Muldoon: Poetry comes from anywhere and everywhere. It might begin with a phrase one has never quite come across, an image, a connection between two things that is unexpected. My favorite poem is John Donne's "The Flea," in which he claims that a flea is a marriage bed.
Howl: What advice do you have for budding writers?
Muldoon: I recommend reading as much poetry as you possibly can. That shouldn't be poetry for children, by the way. One doesn't learn about music by listening to music for children. Hang with the grown-ups. Donne, Dickinson, Dante, Bob Dylan.
Howl: Why is poetry the medium of expression you’ve chosen?
Muldoon: At first I thought it was the easy way out in that poems are generally short and I assumed that that means they can be written in a short time. I suppose that I didn't so much choose poetry as allow it to choose me. I think I'd have preferred to be a musician or a painter.
Howl: What is your writing/editing process like?
Muldoon: I write very, very slowly. The idea is that the poem looks as if no time went into it, but that's what takes time. I never know what I'm doing or where I'm going. And I edit as I go along. I write line by line rather than drafts.
Howl: What experiences from your own life shape your writing and how?
Muldoon: Again, everything and anything. My life in Ireland, in America, in the city, in the country. Often the experiences are imagined rather than real. A lot is made up. That keeps life interesting.