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Interview by Andrew C. Angus
Interview received on Sept 22, 2005, Thurs.
RESPONSES TO INTERVIEW QUESTIONS FOR MANILA REVIEW:
1.AA: Describe yourself.
SS: I like to travel with my girlfriend Rachel Davis, and keep in touch with her children and grandchildren in The Dominican Republic but, that I aside, I like a quiet life where she spends time with her fine art, and I can configure in my writing and meditations meaning from the pyschotic chaos of my youth.
2. AA: What is your favorite poem in highschool or college?
SS: My favorite poem as a child was "THE LAKE ISLE OF INNISFREE" (W.B.YEATS), during highschool and college "SONG OF MYSELF" (Whitman), and in the years I spent writing on my own "Gerontion" (T.S. Elliot).
3.AA: What makes a poem a classic?
SS: For a poem to be a classic it must both embody and transcend the age in which it is written
4.AA: What is your favorite theme in writing or composing poems?
SS: I tend to write about fine Art, especially in love poems to Rachel, and also about biblical eschatology as a poetic medium for our age.
5. AA: How did you learn to compose poems?
SS: I learned how to craft and edit my work in small poetry groups and workshops. I learned how to access my muse through rigorous and constant effort.
6. AA: What is your longest poem so far in terms of lines or in terms of stanzas?
SS: Some of the poetry in EATING AND DRINKING is quite long. I suppose the longest
poem that I've written is probably "WILLIAM IS THE WORD HE MADE", published in the Indie Journal Sam Silva feature page online.
7. AA: When do you write poetry? Any specific time- morning, afternoon, evening, dawn?
SS: I might write poems at any time of the day. A good deal of my better work tends to be done at night.
8.AA: How many years did it take before you published your first poetrybook? What is the title?
SS: My first chapbook MY PRAYER IS A BLUE PASSAGE was published by Third Lung Press
in 1989. By that time I had been writing about 11 or 12 years.
9. AA: How many books have you published so far? Indicate the title, year released and number of pages.
SS: Nine books in all. MY PRAYER IS A BLUE PASSAGE (1989) 20pp., THE STATE OF NOWHERE (1990) 20pp., SWEET HARVESTS ON (1992) 20 pp., De La Palabra (1992) 33 pp.,
LOVE AGAINST THE GRAY WINTER MEAN (1993) 20 pp., ART AS ANYONE'S SALVATION (1995) 20 pp. THE LIFE OF THE UNCHASTENED CITY (1995) 20 pp, EATING AND DRINKING (2003) 250 pp.
10. AA: What is your day job/s before you were diagnosed with schizophrenia?
SS: I was in school at a jr. college in Hesperia Ca. after having finished my freshman year at Inter American University in Puerto Rico. I got mentally ill on a busride from Hesperia east to Greenville N.C. I was a columnist for Spring Lake News later in life...but that was just a part time job.
11. AA: Have you read your poems in front of an audience? If yes, describe your experience.
SS: I read in a local poetry show on WFSS called a Time to Listen for about 8 yrs. I've read
in the Fortener series twice.
12. AA: Have you experienced judging poems in poem contests? If yes, describe your experience.
SS: I was a judge twice for the Nature category for the FEILDS OF EARTH locally.
13. AA: In what year and what age did you publish your first poetrybook?
SS: I published my first poetry book (chapbook) in 1989. I was 35 years old
14. AA: Name at least four short stories you like in the book "Eating and Drinking" ? Why?
SS: I'm Glad I published the short story "The Whores" because its terse and succinct and the subject is one of concern for me as my father was an expert in Latin American affairs for the government. I like "ADAM FUCKED A MONKEY" because, for me, personally being from a middle class background and then suddenly marginalized by society in my mental illness I find a focus in this short story, a kind of personal catharsis for my idiot situations. I don't know if the short story is good but I like it. I like (the short story) "CHEATING" for the same reason. But my favourite story in the book is definitely "DINING BEFORE DEPARTURE". Love beyond death. Love comes like a feast after some of life's harsh lessons.
15.AA: Name at least 6 poems you like in your book "Eating and Drinking" ? Why?
SS: I do not have favourite poems in this book but "THE MAN IN THE BIG MACHINE",
"DOCTRINES THAT A LOVER MIGHT PROFESS", "CONTEMPLATIONS ON A DIFFERENT HARVEST", "AMERICANS BELIEVE", "THE POETRY OF THE FAT MAN", and "A SONG OF SOUL AND MONEY" are poems that reflect most my intended image of the era which this book deals.
16. AA: Where can people buy your book?
SS: "Eating and Drinking" can be ordered through just about any major online outlet, for example amazon.com, or barnesandnoble.com.
17. AA: What is your official website?
SS: my official website is http://www.readsamsilv.com ebooks can be purchased
from this website.
18. AA: Do you want people to contact you by email? If yes what email address?
SS: I would rather not include my email with this information.
This interview is cut short. The complete interview will be available in the print edition.
This will be published in the Summer 2005 edition of the Manila Review. www.manilareview.org
You can buy the poetrybook by contacting the editor of Manila Review.
manilareview@yahoo.com
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