Describe your creative space. Do you work at home, in public spaces, etc.?

I work at home.

What kind of materials do you use? Do you write by hand or type? What is your favorite writing utensil?

I write by hand with a pen and when the poem gets close to its final form, I type it on Word on my computer.

What is your routine for writing?

I don’t have a set routine and write at all times of the day or night.

How long have you been writing? When did you start writing?

I have been writing some sixty-odd years, from the time I was about sixteen.

Who is your intended, or ideal, audience? Who do you write for?

I don’t have any intended or ideal audience. Basically I write because I feel compelled to write.

What inspires you to write? If you are blocked, what do you do?

Not sure what inspires me; the Greeks and the Romans had the idea that the muse breathes in (cf. the English word inspire- through the Greek- pneo, Latin spiro, “breathe in”) to you; in other words, there is some outside influence at work when you create something. I am not really sure whether this is true or not, but sometimes, while writing, words or thoughts come to me. From where, who knows? If I am blocked, I stop writing and come back to the piece later.

What other things do you do besides writing? Do you dance or play golf, etc.?

I study Chinese, go to the gym daily and walk daily with my wife.

What is your favorite part of the creative process?

Writing the piece and the usually laborious process of getting it to a final form.

What is your advice to aspiring writers?

Write as often as possible and read as much as you can; try to read the old masters—they are rarely wrong and you can learn a lot from them.

Check out Jack’s work in Volume 3, Issue 2.