An Interview with James LaMontagne, Author of MERRICK

On March 20, 2018 we will release MERRICK, a short collection of poems about Joseph Merrick (The Elephant Man). The author, James LaMontagne is brilliant. To celebrate the release, we would like to share an interview with LaMontagne so you can get to know him better.

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

​Walt Whitman. Indian food.


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

A blank page.  I takes lots of notes, so everyday I have something to work with.


Who is your biggest literary crush, author or character?

Emily Dickinson.  I live fairly close to her home and grave and visit her often.


What books are on your nightstand?

Janos Pilinszky - Selected Poems
Paul Celan - Glottal Stop
Traci Brimhall - Our Lady of The Ruins
Anders Carlson- Wee  - Dynamite
Javier Zamora - Unaccompanied


Where do you get your ideas? What inspires you?

From Jazz.  I often write with jazz playing in the background.
The phrasing helps with my phrasing.
From a word phrase.
From interesting lives.


Favorite punctuation mark? Why?

!   Its has a prophetic forces to me


What book were you supposed to read in high school, but never did?

Last of The Mohicans


What inanimate object would you thank in your acknowledgements?

My notebooks


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

To give voice to my imagination


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

Don’t drink!