E.R. Baxter III
Interviewed by Tim Schmitt of BelowTheFalls.com & NiagaraHub.com
Q: You sprinkle doses of history into your writing. Do you think we learn enough from our past, or is it something we should focus on more?
A: My use of history in Niagara Digressions attempts to inform or entertain in one way or the other...from the individual, to small “groups” of us, to nations—what the hell are we all doing? Most of us indulge in historical analysis in our lives, trying to understand what happened, where we went wrong, how we can do it better next time, if there is one. I rethink the past to discover things—an example: I had an Uncle once who had a whole variety of favored expressions, one of which was a vulgar expression having to do with a cat’s rectum. During my sifting though memories of my childhood I uncovered a tiny piece of his childhood that might have been the origin of that expression...and there I was over a half century later lmao, or at least doing some heavy-duty smiling. So I put it in the book to give readers the opportunity to smile also.
Q: Is poetry a dying art? And how can we better get the genre to the masses?
A: Is poetry a dying art & how can we better get it to the masses? Let’s agree poetry is more vigorous now than any time in history, kept alive by arts grants, prizes, poetry magazines, most of which are themselves floating on grant money and “culturals” budgets, and by the vanity presses, euphemistically called “self-publishing,” and by millions of people who believe they are poets. Some of them are. It’s worth noting there may be more poets than readers of poetry. Chapter nine of Niagara Digressions begins with: “Almost all contemporary poetry is boring. You may have written some of it yourself.” I believe the best way to bring poetry to the masses is to make it taste like beer.
Q: Niagara Falls is essentially an urban area, yet you live on a farm and have been a longtime environmental activist. Is that an easy highwire act to walk? (Pardon the Wallenda-like reference. We’ve got him on our mind lately) Do you think the two can co-exist?
A: I see no contradictions, or no “walking a highwire,” etc, between urban areas (I was born & raised in Niagara Falls), living in the countryside (which I do & have done for many years) and being an environmental activist. The natural environment covers the planet, more compromised in some places than others. The Niagara Frontier, given its history, if the educational systems supporting it were nurturing the liberal arts tradition, should be creating so many “environmental activists” that not being one would be the unusual thing, an abnormality.
Q: Explain the experience when you read your work in public?
A: When I read my work publicly I experience a sense of togetherness with those who are listening. They are honoring my work by their presence, and if they aren’t already friends who are familiar with my writing, they are at least people who love the way words can fit together to express ideas and make pictures in their minds--and they’ve attended to find out whether or not I can do it well. After many years of working hard at the craft of writing, my reading publicly is a way for me to share what I’ve created, to participate in the magic of story-telling that makes little movies in the minds of others--and hoping they enjoy what they see.
A: My use of history in Niagara Digressions attempts to inform or entertain in one way or the other...from the individual, to small “groups” of us, to nations—what the hell are we all doing? Most of us indulge in historical analysis in our lives, trying to understand what happened, where we went wrong, how we can do it better next time, if there is one. I rethink the past to discover things—an example: I had an Uncle once who had a whole variety of favored expressions, one of which was a vulgar expression having to do with a cat’s rectum. During my sifting though memories of my childhood I uncovered a tiny piece of his childhood that might have been the origin of that expression...and there I was over a half century later lmao, or at least doing some heavy-duty smiling. So I put it in the book to give readers the opportunity to smile also.
Q: Is poetry a dying art? And how can we better get the genre to the masses?
A: Is poetry a dying art & how can we better get it to the masses? Let’s agree poetry is more vigorous now than any time in history, kept alive by arts grants, prizes, poetry magazines, most of which are themselves floating on grant money and “culturals” budgets, and by the vanity presses, euphemistically called “self-publishing,” and by millions of people who believe they are poets. Some of them are. It’s worth noting there may be more poets than readers of poetry. Chapter nine of Niagara Digressions begins with: “Almost all contemporary poetry is boring. You may have written some of it yourself.” I believe the best way to bring poetry to the masses is to make it taste like beer.
Q: Niagara Falls is essentially an urban area, yet you live on a farm and have been a longtime environmental activist. Is that an easy highwire act to walk? (Pardon the Wallenda-like reference. We’ve got him on our mind lately) Do you think the two can co-exist?
A: I see no contradictions, or no “walking a highwire,” etc, between urban areas (I was born & raised in Niagara Falls), living in the countryside (which I do & have done for many years) and being an environmental activist. The natural environment covers the planet, more compromised in some places than others. The Niagara Frontier, given its history, if the educational systems supporting it were nurturing the liberal arts tradition, should be creating so many “environmental activists” that not being one would be the unusual thing, an abnormality.
Q: Explain the experience when you read your work in public?
A: When I read my work publicly I experience a sense of togetherness with those who are listening. They are honoring my work by their presence, and if they aren’t already friends who are familiar with my writing, they are at least people who love the way words can fit together to express ideas and make pictures in their minds--and they’ve attended to find out whether or not I can do it well. After many years of working hard at the craft of writing, my reading publicly is a way for me to share what I’ve created, to participate in the magic of story-telling that makes little movies in the minds of others--and hoping they enjoy what they see.
