David Starkey’s Profile on MidnightMind.com.
David Starkey’s work appeared Midnight Mind Number Four.
Originally published on MidnightMind.com in 2003
Name some writers who have affected you and how they have affected you.
This is always a hard question to answer. I feel that, in a small way, everything I’ve ever read that’s made even a modest impression on me leaves a trace on my own writing. That said, as a writer of dramatic monologues, I can’t help but be influenced by Browning. I love Frank O’Hara’s ability to incorporate eclectic elements into a poem, to do so lightly and with a sense of humor. The music of Geoffrey Hill’s Mercian Hymns was a revelation to me, and I hope it echoes in my poetry. My prose rhythms are affected by my poetry and occasionally by the cadences of popular song.
Do you read more poetry or fiction?
Poetry, definitely–whenever I can get my hands on a new book. Usually this is through the library of the college or university that currently employs me. I like to know what’s being written, how the wind is shifting. I think poetry is fun, too, even if it’s difficult. I read new books of poems the way kids read comic books. And of course I read contemporary novels and lots of nonfiction, especially biography.
When did you first realize that you wanted to write creatively?
Sophomore year in high school. I wanted to be a fiction writer or a playwright because I loved dialog. In the event, it turned out I had more of a knack for poetry.How do your experiences impact your writing?I write about people I know, the landscape around me, the weather. Although I’ve been called a “literary” writer–not always approvingly–my own experiences are always weaving their way into my work.
What was the last book you finished? Did you like it?
A.S. Byatt’s The Biographer’s Tale. It’s a novel about a graduate student writing a biography of an obscure biographer. Most of the book is made up of fragments, real and invented, from other documents. The reader has to do a lot of work piecing things together, making up a story. When I described it to someone while I was reading it, the book sounded boring and contrived, but I actually liked it quite a lot.
How often, and where do you write?
I write everyday, though what I write may not amount to much. I write mostly at my computer, in a corner of the bedroom, and in a notebook, usually at the beach (I live in Santa Barbara). My wife and I have eight children between us, so quiet time alone is a rarity. Fortunately, I write in short, intense bursts, and I’m able to get things done despite the chaos.
Do you have any big writing projects planned for the future?
Always. I’m currently co-authoring an academic book with my friend Wendy Bishop entitled Keywords in Creative Writing. I’m working on a memoir about my life as a listener and purveyor of rock and roll. And I always have a new manuscript of poems looking for a publisher.