Bob Hill is a blogger, essayist, reviewer, poet, fiction writer and creative writing teacher.
He was born at the back end of the 60s in Park Royal Hospital, Willesden to a signwriter Father and a Mother with a knitting habit.
His earliest memory is cutting his head open at the age of four whilst playing in the garages at the bottom of the estate he lived on.
A childhood, teens and 20s growing up in Banbury, Oxfordshire gave him his lifelong friends, a desire for travel and an ability to drink.
Bob now lives in Bournemouth and lectures in an FE College. His background in mixing both plaster and mortar acting as the bedrock for his academic attainment at Bournemouth, Portsmouth and Oxford Universities.
His favourite colour is cornflower blue, favourite city is Paris and he has a burning ambition to learn Yiddish and the Ukelele
The following is an interview with Bob. All questions were set by his friends and peers.
1. I know that music has also had a massive influence on some of your writing/subject matter are there any song lyrics that you wish you’d written, or appreciate for their stand-alone poetic qualities?
For standalone poetic qualities I can say that the lyrics of KRS1, Gil Scott-Heron, Bob Dylan, David Bowie and Terry Callier really are as readable as they are listenable. Each of those artists/songwriters use words with such intelligence and imagination. I still can recall the day I first bought The Smiths by The Smiths, went home, put the LP on the turntable and was blown away by the first track ‘Reel Around the Fountain.’ If I could have written any song that would be it.
2. Where does creativity come from?
Imagination and knowledge seem to me to be the pre-requisites for creativity. Technical skill comes with practice but being well read, being interested in the universe and your own place in it are the key elements. As a child I played a lot, I had a dressing up box and a room full of books and comics, if anything that’s where my imagination and knowledge and then my creativity came from.
3. Why do you feel that poetry is important in contemporary society, and what do you believe it has to offer future generations?
Poetry, in its various and many forms, is a means by which people who have something that they wish to say can have their say. The discipline of turning ideas, opinions and thoughts into words which work as a poem or a piece of spoken word forces the speaker to really understand what it is they wish to say. As for future generations I suppose the fact that we still read poems by the likes of Homer, Donne, Shakespeare et al means that poetry has an enduring quality to transcend time. What it offers may change over time; Owen and Sassoon’s poems are interpreted differently now than they were 90 odd years ago but they still offer an insight into the world endured by those men. Maybe that’s what poetry of now will offer in the future.
4. What is your greatest regret?
I went to university in my early 30s, I wish I’d gone as an 18 or 19 year old. I think 1985 would have been an interesting time to have been a student. It would have been free for a start and probably would have given me more confidence to be a poet/writer at an earlier age. University, like the armed services or Art School, is the perfect place for the misfit to find out about themselves. That would have been good for me.
5. What historical figures, events or movements do you feel have been ignored in the education of young people within the UK?
I would say that the fact that Churchill ran the war whilst, in effect a Labour Govt. ran the country and the post WWII Labour Govts. achievements for the people have been airbrushed away as a means to support the Thatcherite vandalism of the people’s Britain.
In art I feel the movements that occurred in the inter-war years need much more study and discussion in schools. They were about breaking down norms and that is surely what children and teens should be allowed to experiment with before they have to become ‘hard working’ or ‘striving’.
6. What is your favourite poem? WHY?
‘The Goblin Market’ by Christina Rossetti is such a beautiful poem. It is erotic and innocent, fantastic and realistic, it allows for the reader to provide their own images and it flows through the imagination. It is a poem I use to introduce reluctant students to poetry because it is like no other poem. I heard it read once on Radio 4s Poetry Please and if that recording is still available then I would urge anyone to listen to it, definitely read it though, it’s extraordinary.
7. Is there a work you wish you had written? If so which one?
See above for a poem I would like to have written. I would like to have been one of the writers on ‘Not the 9 o’Clock News’, ‘The Comic Strip Presents’ or ‘League of Gentlemen’.
8. If you could invite just one historical figure (back from the grave) to dinner with you – who would it be, and why?
That is such a tough question; I could list a 100 people if I really had to. As I’m only allowed one to choose then, with the proviso that I can change my mind, I would love to have dinner with a 1930s Martha Gellhorn. As for people who are alive and well I reckon a few hours in the company of either comedian and writer Stewart Lee or the soul/jazz singer Lizz Wright would be time well spent.
9. What makes your heart sing?
Being with my best friends and laughing so hard that it hurts; even if we are retelling stories that we all already know. There are no friends like old friends and there is nothing funnier than all being in the same room when we’re all on form.
10. Have you ever written a poem about someone who annoys you, but it’s written so cryptically they would never know it’s about them?
Several, and I am saying no more about this for obvious reasons.
11. Have you ever fallen in love with a fictional character? If you have, who?
I love this question, when I was a teenager I read a book by R.F Delderfield called ‘Diana’ and I fell in love with her. Like Peter Parker (Spiderman) I also had a thing for Mary-Jane Watson but I think that as a young reader the number one object for my literary affections was Wendy Darling from Peter Pan. As an adult though I would say that Shug Avery from ‘The Color Purple’ was a character who I really wanted to meet; she had everything for me, strength, independence, intellect and she sang the blues. Strong women make strong stories and she is a very strong woman.
12. To what extent do you believe writers can separate their art from their politics and do you believe they should, or do they have a duty to their beliefs?
I think that politics will find their way into any artists work with or without intention. An artist has to be true to his or her beliefs but at the same time it is important to avoid being preachy. Commissioned pieces will, inevitably, mean that the artist will have to consciously put politics aside but as long as he/she isn’t going against their beliefs then so be it. Artists, like all people, are multi-faceted personalities so their art will reflect this.
13. (How) Do you combine your various interests – or do you keep them as discrete entities and what is your favourite creative outlet?
Poetry and flash fiction are my favoured creative outlets and I use both and other genres, to combine my interests. I am an historian as much as anything and it is as an historian that I sometimes write. I love comedy and even my darkest poems and writing has a comic twist in it… it’s not always obvious though.
14. Do you remember your first poem?
Yes, I was 10 years old, it was called ‘Red Blood, White Death’ and was a short poem about a shark. I remember I wrote the phrase ‘bubblegum brain’ and my teacher, Mr Oxberry, gave me a gold star.
15. Did your schoolteachers or parents influence your writing? Did they encourage or discourage?
My parents encouraged me to read and there were always books in the house, and they bought me comics. I would say that was an important influence though there was no direct input from Mum and Dad. As for teachers I would say that at primary school a teacher called Mr Iversen was an influence on me wanting to explore how the world worked and what history really meant. Again, no real direct influence on writing but certainly an influence on why I write.
16. Do you have to write in special conditions – e.g. indoors, after a meal, mornings or afternoon? Do you have a routine?
I always carry a note book or journal with me and they are full of notes, phrases, ideas etc. I don’t have a routine but find that cafes, buses, trains are good places to write first drafts in longhand and then when I feel I’ve got something I’ll force myself to sit at a laptop and write. I usually do this in my attic where my vinyl record collection is and usually with a jug of coffee and one of those plastic fags you can get now.
17. Do you feel any of your poems have had a political effect?
To be honest I really have no idea, I like to think that my work gets people to think about things that I think are important but I’m not sure I’d want to have a political effect as that would probably affect my writing. I also think there is something worrying about wanting to be taken too seriously and, again, aiming for a political effect might smack too much of someone wanting to be taken seriously.
18. Do you ever get writer’s block? How do you deal with it?
I suffer from bouts of depression and that can lead to a brake on creativity. However, I use the techniques designed to inspire writing in others to get over any blocks. Often, just going for a walk or catching up on some reading or music helps. I like using the ‘cut up ‘ technique favoured by Lou Reed, David Bowie and others and that usually ends up with something that sparks something else and the block is gone.
19. Why don’t people read or buy poetry?
I would imagine that many people are put off poetry due to their experiences at school. I am a teacher so I am not going to slag off my profession but I do feel that teachers are rather inhibited in the teaching of poetry and the problem with that is is that poetry is all about not having inhibitions. There’s too much pressure now on teachers to hit targets rather than help students to educate themselves and of course, the problem with literature in general and poetry especially is that sex and death are major themes and that’s where some wanker from the ‘inappropriate police’ will step in to fuck it up for both teacher and students.
20. Why should people read your poetry (or poetry in general) instead of the newspaper, watching television, etc.?
This isn’t false modesty, I don’t suffer from that peculiarity, but I would never say that anyone should read my poetry instead of doing something else. Poetry, like jazz, classical music and Shakespeare has to be ‘gone to’ rather than waiting for it to appear. The only reason I would give to anyone for ‘going to’ my, or anyone’s poetry, is that it will expand horizons. But then again so does cooking and eating different foods.
21. If you could travel through time, which poet would you like to be able to meet and talk to?
Christina Rossetti I think although a bit of time with Hemingway would be cool, especially if it were a night out in Paris in the 30s, as long as Gertrude Stein didn’t punch me in the mouth.
For more information please go to www.jackhughespoetry.webs.com
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