c. p. stewart

     an interview with Sotto Voce's poetry editor

Sotto Voce: Where are you from?

C. P. Stewart: North Yorkshire, England.

What type of writer and/or artist are you?

I'm a poet. Until a few years ago I was a singer/songwriter. Now I'm a poet.

Who or what has influenced your writing / art?

I think the truthful answer must be: everything and everyone. In the beginning, Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Blake's poems.

What book are you reading now?

I've just finished Gilead (Marilynne Robinson) and have also been reading Wallace Stevens, daily, for a week or two.

Who is your favorite author?

This is like asking, Which is your favourite child? I love: Knut Hamsun, Turgenev. Kenneth Graham, A.A. Milne, Emily Dickinson, Eilean ni chulleanain, William Blake, C.S.Lewis, Cyprian Smith OSB. And probably twenty others, whom I will remember, with regret, the moment I send this.

What is it that really strikes you about their work?

Mostly, what they say is not in the words they're using.

Who is your favorite artist?

Samuel Palmer.

What it is that really strikes you about his work?

He captures the holiness in everything.

What is your biggest dream?

Awaking in a sunlit garden with the letter H on the gate and discovering that this has all been a dream. And then going back to sleep for a while.

What would you say was your “defining moment”?

I'm not sure I believe in defining moments. I certainly hope I never have one. What would one do next?

What is the achievement of which you are most proud?

Winning my true love's heart. And half a dozen songs. And a couple of poems.

If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you be?

Probably where I am. (But could it be 1968?)  

Who is your hero (anyone, living or dead)?

Mohammed Ali comes pretty close.

What is one thing you think Sotto Voce readers should know about you?

That I've been thinking, very hard, for a good quarter of an hour and I can't seem to come up with a good answer to this question.

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C.P. Stewart lives with his family in North Yorkshire. Formerly singer/songwriter with the cult band Laughing Gravy, his poetry has been widely published in the U.K., the United States, Canada, and, most recently, India.  Visit his Web site at www.cpstewart-poet.co.uk.

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© Sotto Voce, 2008.