Creator's Conversations with Steve Denehan

Today's Creator's Conversations is a part of the blog tour organised by Fly on the Wall Press. Today we will interview Steve Denehan. Steve lives in Ireland and he has written two chapbooks and two collections. He won Irish Times' New Irish Writing award for two tims. His poetries are featured in Westerly, Acumen, Into The Void and Poetry Ireland Review. He was nominated for Best of the Net, Best New Poet and was twice nominated for the Pushcart Prize. His latest poetry book Days of Falling Flesh and Rising Moons with Golden Antelope Press was released on October 14th, 2020.

I have not done any editing to the conversation we had. Now let's begin the interview. Kangkan: Nowadays, people prefer watching a video rather than reading a book. Looking at the rising demand of the videos, do you think that the video industry is going to obliterate the book industry? Steve: I think both can happily exist alongside each other. To me watching a film or series is more of a shared experience but reading a book is very much a solitary one. I think it’s important to have time alone, so, in my opinion, there will always be a place for books.

Kangkan: Do you think the physical appearance of an author impacts the sales of his/her books? Steve: Absolutely! We are a shallow bunch! Physical appearance is a factor in every industry, in life in general really I suppose. It’s a shame of course as when it comes down to it, all that matters are the words.

Kangkan: Apart from writing poetries, what are the other things you think that you can do easily but others can't?

Steve: Nothing! suppose everyone has their strengths and weaknesses but all I can think of are my weaknesses right now... Wait, I have one! I can do a fair few keepie-uppies which is a completely useless skill really but there you go.

Kangkan: Nikita Gill, a famous poet on social media once said in an interview, "Eight billion people are living their life in eight billion ways."- what is your way of living life?

Steve: That’s a pretty gigantic question! I don’t really have a blueprint I’m afraid. I’ve always kind of floated along really and it’s gone okay so far. That’s my answer I suppose, floating.

Kangkan: How do you handle failures? Steve: It depends really. Sometimes when big things go wonky it doesn’t bother me at all but then something small will go wrong and I go completely bananas. When that happens I try to reason with myself. Unfortunately I’m not always willing to listen.

Kangkan: What is your biggest fear in life?

Steve: The usual stuff I suppose, bad things happening to the people I care about.

Kangkan: Tell us a secret of your life that you have not shared with anybody. Steve: That’s a hard one… Once, a long time ago, I was having a bad day in a bad month in a bad year in work. It all got too much and I simply grabbed my jacket and walked out. It was the middle of the day. It was in Dublin City and there was a cinema nearby so I wandered over, headed in, watched a film and then went home afterward. I went in the next morning expecting to be dragged over the coals but nobody had noticed. Which, thinking back, said it all really. Kangkan: I have gone through your latest poetry collection Days of Falling Flesh and Rising Moons. "You" and "Fabric"- these two poems have touched my soul. How do you get inspired to write such beautiful poetries? Steve: Wow I had forgotten that “Fabric” was in the book! That was a late addition and part of a batch of poems written after the virus dug its claws in. I’ve just moved it out of my “unpublished” folder! Thanks Kangkan! Thanks also for reading the poems. That’s something that will never stop being amazing to me. I just write for the hell of it so when someone reads a poem (and, better yet, enjoys it!) it’s almost impossible to believe. I wish I had a simple answer to your question but really I rarely feel inspired. I just enjoy trying to put something down in a way that makes me happy. Oftentimes I just want to jot something down so it is remembered. Sometimes I find it useful to write a poem when I am unsure about something. It helps me tease things out. But, more often than not, I think of a line, or an idea, and just build on that. It’s like a puzzle sometimes and it’s a really nice feeling when the pieces click together. Kangkan: You have portrayed the Covid 19 pandemic situation in your poetries artistically. What is the most productive thing you have done during this period? Steve: I wrote a lot of poems, read a lot of books and taught my wife and daughter how to skateboard. Kangkan: How long did it take to write this book? Steve: There are about 100 poems in the book and it takes me about a half hour to write a poem so about 50 hours give or take I suppose. Kangkan: How do you transfer your feelings/thoughts from one poem to another? In other words, how do you handle the hangover of your own poetries? Steve: I’m not sure really. When I finish a poem I put it to one side and forget about it. I think there will always be elements that overlap but there’s not a lot anyone can do about that. We only have the one frame of reference after all. Kangkan: Any contemporary poets you follow? Steve: I’m not a huge poetry reader I’m afraid though I have just discovered Matthew Sweeney and Ada Limón who are fantastic. Kangkan: Some poets complain that social media distracts them from their poetries. What is your opinion on that? Steve: Do they? That’s bananas! It seems like a very strange complaint to have. I mean if social media is distracting someone from writing, or from anything, they should ease off it. Nobody is forcing them to give their time to it. If people are complaining about something so ridiculously inconsequential I think they are incredibly lucky. Kangkan: There are so many readers of my blog who want to become full-time writers. What will be your message to them? Steve: If I ever become a full-time writer I’ll let them know! I think the most important thing about writing is to not write for an audience. Don’t try to write what you think other people want to hear or expect. Don’t try to be like anyone else or try to impress anyone. Be yourself. Write the truth. Kangkan: Thank you for giving us your valuable time Steve. The readers of kmgreads will learn many things from you. I hope you will come again to have a chat with us. All the best for Days of Falling Flesh and Rising Moons. Steve: Not at all Kangkan. Thanks a million.

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