An Interview with Bill Rector

If you could cook dinner for any author, dead or alive, who would it be? What would you make?  

Rimbaud. Liver and onions with absinthe.


What scares you the most about the writing process? How do you combat your fears?

I fear lying to myself. I combat this by letting poems remain unvisited for weeks or months or even years. Upon seeing them again, as if for the first time, falseness is usually clearly seen.


Who is your biggest literary crush, author or character?

Mr Cogito, of Zbigniew Herbert.


What books are on your nightstand?

TJ Stiles, Jesse James. Walter Pater, The Renaissance. Richard Morgan, Altered Carbon.


Where do you get your ideas? What inspires you?

I hate to search for inspiration because I usually fail to find it. I hope that inspiration finds me. Lines or phrases that appear suddenly in my brain are often the germ of a poem. Biography of a Name began with the opening two lines:  Jimmy Hoffa is buried/in this poem...


Favorite punctuation mark? Why?

No preferences, really. I avoid exclamation marks generally.



What inanimate object would you thank in your acknowledgements?

The spent cartridge of a .38.


Why do you write? The first 5 words that come to mind. Go.

Need, desire, fear, sorrow, joy.



If you could write an inspirational quote on the mirrors of aspiring writers, what would you write?

Don’t trust yourself. You don’t exist. Look at the words.

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Bill Rector is the author of Biography of a Name, released on May 8, 2018. You can purchase it HERE and at all major retailers.