Interview With Author David Rosenheim
Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a poet and songwriter, living with my wife and two boys in Pacifica, CA. OWL is my first poetry collection, though I have been publishing poetry in journals and magazines for years. I have been in several bands, including Hugh, The Weather Band, and Winchester Revival. Together, we have made many records. In my day job, I am a leadership coach, supporting CEOs, scientists, and other leaders focused on hard problems like solving climate change and curing cancer with new technologies.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
OWL was inspired by the places I’ve traveled, both in the external world and the world within. In 2017, my wife and I took our boys out of school to travel across 14 countries for the better part of a year. Some of the poems in OWL were documents of our “big trip.” Some of the poems map the natural landscapes of southwestern Wisconsin, where my family has a farm. Other poems take an interior view of common but important life themes like change, time, love, loss, suffering, and joy.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
About once a month, I take a day off and go to a museum to get exposure to new ideas, images, and sensations. I love to write in response to the photography, sculpture, paintings, or video installations I see at these museums. There’s a word for it: ekphrastic writing. To me, it feels fresh, unpredictable, and sometimes ecstatic.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Too many to make sense of. But these five poets come to mind: Allen Ginsberg, Lucille Clifton, Forest Gander, Ray Carver, and Jane Hirshfield. In addition to her many volumes of mind-popping poetry, Hirshfield’s essays in “Nine Gates” taught me to read poetry with new aliveness.
What are you working on now?
I’m mixing genres. Trying to put music and video to spoken word. It’s early and very experimental. It may suck, but I’m having a lot of fun with it.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Book promotion is a new game for me. I don’t know what works yet, other than emailing people I know. Though I don’t like social media, I am open to experimenting with it as a way of connecting with new readers and writers.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Make a practice out of writing. Take a “lunch pail” approach to it, as described in Stephen Pressfield’s “Turning Pro.” Don’t wait for lighting to strike.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Yes lives in the land of no.
What are you reading now?
“Gorky Park”- I’m a sucker for cold war spy novels. I am re-discovering the zen and writing website, thedewdrop.org. It does a lovely job of curating poetry, zen writing, and other essays from now and the canon.
What’s next for you as a writer?
Finishing my first novel. Culling work for my second poetry collection.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
The complete works of Czeslaw Milosz and Yeats. They are so dense and hard to understand, that I would be busy for decades. Also Amiri Baraka so that I have music and immediacy to hear from the lines.
Author Websites and Profiles
David Rosenheim Amazon Profile
David Rosenheim’s Social Media Links
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