Des Dillon

Where and when were you born?

I was born in Bellshill Lanarkshire in 1960. But immediately driven up the hill to Coatbridge where began my indoctrination.

Could you tell us something about your background?

I am the second oldest of a family of nine children and if that sounds a big family to you – get this – the O’Brians had twenty-one children by the same mother and father. I have a twin sister. The Coatbridge Irish lived very different lives from their Scottish counterparts. If you want an instant in – just think Boston Irish. Like the movie The Departed.

My father worked in the Steelworks and then major construction sites - shuttering – building the likes of motorway bridges, power stations etc. I worked alongside him often.

After working as a Fruit Machine engineer, a Shuttering Joiner, a Washing Machine engineer, a DJ, a Bouncer, I got a degree and became an English Teacher.

but:

Intelligence fell

Like snow you know, not only

Among posh voices.

Were either of your parents or grandparents (or any other relatives) writers? If not, were any of your relatives actively interested in literature?

No and no.

But if you include storytelling as a legitimate form of literature, I’ve been writing since I could speak. My mother is one of the greatest storytellers on Earth. I can’t overemphasize our need for words – voracious – greedy – addictive even – the Blarney. My culture’s Irish Scot flamboyance and trickery with language, its appreciation for the power and play in words and its lust for expressing universal truths in the form of narrative – made me a pretty proficient writer by my early teens. Add that to a reclusive penchant for reading fairy tales and nursery rhymes I can see now that my brain was programmed with two things: an apprenticeship with words from my culture and, in the fairy tales, a simple but powerful map of The Archetypes.

Are any of your siblings writers or involved in a creative profession?

No. Though my young sister Wendy is a great writer and a brilliant painter. She’s happy when she’s creating and depressed when she’s not.

What was the first poem (or who was the first poet) that turned you on to poetry?

Apart from nursery rhymes and all those Catholic hymns I learned as an alter boy - The Donkey by Chesterton struck me hard and still rings today. I was 14.

What age were you when you first began writing poetry, and did you receive any encouragement?

Although I wrote wee poems at primary school about frolicking lambs and babbling brooks, I started writing seriously when I was eighteen. Mainly influenced by Meat Loaf, Bob Dylan, Coatbridge patter and Fleetwood Mac. I had read a lot of fairy tales and nursery rhymes when I was young which lends my writing the chance of achieving universal depth. My reading was bolstered by comics and the great story telling tradition that exists in Coatbridge. William Empson said that it is the job of the poet to put the feeling inside the poet's head inside the reader's head. I firmly agree with that. A great storyteller makes use of many of the same tools a poet does, manipulating language in real time to gain and keep the full attention of the audience, so that he can move them mentally, emotionally and spiritually. When I was young I could hold my own in the pubs with the crack. But my attempts at writing then - with a few exceptions - led to some really awful stuff. That was because I was tying to write rather than tell the story or express the feeling honestly. Sometimes the worst thing a writer can do is write.

When you started writing poetry did you have dreams about becoming a "professional" poet? If so, did anyone advise you against this course of action?

I always considered myself to be first and foremost, a poet. Unfortunately nobody else did. The further away from poetry I moved the more successful I became as a writer. I remember Brian Whittingham telling me he'd feel as if he'd made it as a writer if he could get a collection of short stories published. I'd always felt publishing a collection of poems was success. The grass is always greener right enough.

Did you ever get a poem published in your school magazine?

It wasn’t the sort of school where you would have a magazine.

Did you go to university, and if so, which subject(s) did you study?

Yes. Strathclyde. On the form for the BA I simply wrote that I wanted to study poetry. They wrote back and said the structure of the degree required me to pick five subjects. I wrote back saying no thanks I only want to study poetry. They called me in and explained. Did I detect giggling? Thus I was flung into the world of academia, educated with a different knowledge; ill equipped; thinking Plato was a Spanish waiter. My marks were always average but I eventually left with an honours degree in English Lit. The one thing I did well was writing poetry. Every year I was a prize-winner in the Keith Wright Memorial Poetry Competition. It might mean nothing to you but for me it was a rush seeing my poetry published. That and the encouragement of David Jago, an English Lecturer, drove me on. I also got the poem Coatbridge published in Strata in 1984. The fact that Alistair Gray, Alan Bold and John Maley were in that wee pamphlet made me think I had made it. If I had known it would be ten years before I'd get anything else published I might have given up. But writers live in hope of a happy postman.

When did you first start submitting to poetry magazines? And can you tell us how many rejections you received before having something accepted for publication?

Thousands. Seriously. I stopped sending them. The only poems I’ve had published in magazines are when the Editor has asked me to submit. I don’t send anything away – and haven’t for years – on spec.

I was eventually published in West Coast Magazine, then edited by Brian Whittingham and Joe Murray. It was around 1993 and things were not going well on the writing front. I was teaching English and beginning to think that maybe I didn’t have what it took to be a writer. I decided one last push was needed then I would give up. I can't remember how I knew about it but I joined Brian’s Crazy Day writers’ group in Maryhill and learned a lot in a very sort time. Brian liked my work and published three poems in West Coast. Picking Brambles, Sniz and Unrequited Love. Without that encouragement I think I might have given up

What was the worst rejection you ever received?

A guy phoned me and asked for something for his magazine – it was Glasgow but I can't remember his name. But he sent me a right cheeky letter saying my stuff was substandard. I guess it was some kind of envy – which I can understand. Maybe I had rejected him at one time.

What was your first published poem? Which poetry magazine published it? And what year was it published?

The Keith Wright memorial award at Strathclyde. That was 1982 – I think. What a great feeling that was to see my stuff in print. If I had known it would take me 20 years to get a collection out I would have given up.

Have you ever attended a creative writing course or been involved in a writers' group? If so, did you find it useful?

A few times - but a lot of bad advice flies about Writers’ groups. And now I think we’re all better being the Mavericks we’re supposed to be and take no notice of advice or criticism. That’s what I do anyway. The more we take advice the less original we are.

When did you put together your first collection of poetry?

Apart from Sniz which was self published really. Picking Brambles – put together in 2002.

How long did it take to get it accepted for publication? And, if appropriate, how many times was it rejected?

It took 20 years and the blackmailing of my novel publisher. I give him one novel and he publishes one poetry collection. I have the same blackmailish terms for my next poetry collection.

How long did you have to wait between acceptance and final publication?

A year.

What sort of critical response did you receive?

It was trashed severely in one paper and praised highly in another.

Would you say that your publisher actively promoted the book?

No. He can’t afford to.

Did you do readings and signings at bookshops to help promote the book? If so, did you organise these yourself, or were they organised by your publisher? And would you say that they had a significant effect on sales figures?

I do readings now and then – they do affect sales in that I sell the books at the readings. But I don’t think they have any effect on sales in shops.

How many copies of the book sold?

1000.

Is it still in print?

Yes.

At the beginning of your writing career did you enter any poetry competitions? Did you enter a lot or just a few? Did you have any success? And, with hindsight, what are your thoughts about the relative merits or demerits of poetry competitions?

Yes. A lot. Got nowhere. Did well in the Keith Wright in Strathclyde and was encouraged by David Jago my then lecturer. Britain is, in my opinion still too attached to the Arnoldian idea that art should be sweetness and light and that it should somehow edify and make us better people. That argument has been gong on since the Ancient Greek Dramatists. I come down on the side of Aristophanes – who thought that drama (here poetry) should absorb and entertain.

Long story short – you get the wrong judge – you get nowhere.

Which of your poetry books has been the most successful in terms of sales, and how many copies has it sold to date?

Picking Brambles being the only one. 1000.

Have you won any awards for your poetry?

None.

Do you make a living out of poetry?

No.

If not, do you make an adequate living through poetry related activities such as teaching creative writing workshops? Or do you have to supplement your income through unrelated activities?

I make a living just from readings of all my work. Although as I write this I start working again as a teacher after a ten year absence.

With the benefit of hindsight, are you glad that you pursued your dream of being a poet? Also, if you could turn the clock back, would you do anything different?

I am grateful to be sitting in the garden thinking deep philosophical thoughts (or frivolous ones) and trying to get them down on paper with clarity. Different? I would have avoided advice much earlier in my career.

If a young would-be poet approached you, which poets would you recommend as vital reading?

The patterns of words in their own heads.

Which poetry magazines would you recommend him or her to subscribe to?

I don’t.

Assuming that this would-be poet showed some promise, would you advise him or her to pursue a "career" in poetry?

Do not let words of

support stray into advice.

That is not friendship.

If so, what further advice would you give him or her?

Maverick

They’re planning there still

And drinking. But I furrowed

My own revolution.

Finally (and extremely hypothetically), you are selected to appear on the hit reality TV show, "Desert Island Poets", where you are marooned on a tropical island for three months with a typewriter and several reams of paper. You are provided with all necessary provisions, but you are only allowed to take three books with you. Your appearance fee is more than you could hope to earn in a decade and the show is so popular that all previous participants have become best-selling poets. So, would you participate? And if so, which three books would you take with you?

Seamus Heaney. The Bible. History of Western Philosophy.

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