Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Hello, readers!
My name is PW and I live in Albuquerque, NM.
I’ve published 5 full-length collections of poetry, along with a novel, and an award-nominated book of short fiction.
I’ve been invited to present my work from juvenile detention centers in Washington State, to the Havana International Poetry Festival, as an official invitee of the Cuban government.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My new poetry collection is called “malepoet.” and I wrote most of it out on the road, as I travelled the nation, reading poetry and conducting writing workshops, mostly in Spring and Summer of 2019.
With the pandemic, I had the opportunity to include a few new pieces to the manuscript.
This collection centers a lot on just who. exactly, gets to call poetry, “poetry”…and the adventure and liberation of being part of that shift…from classrooms to street corners to jail cells to each our own keyboards and smart phones.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Unusual?
Well, I wouldn’t say so…not that cannabis is legal, now…(laughs)
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Tom Robbins is an absolute divine being!
Of course the Beats…Burroughs, Kerouac, Kerouac, Hunke.
I also really dig lots of regional and Indie poets and writers; Edward Vidaurre, down on the border in Texas, is THE TRUTH! Welsh-American writer Sion Lidster’s work always reminds me why I write. Latina writers like Jo Reyes-Boitel are doing things with language(s) that excite me (read her ‘Michael + Josephine’, if you haven’t).
What are you working on now?
Right now…now that I’m fully vaccinated, and venues are opening back up; I’m working on setting up readings, signing, and participatory workshops, all of the nation.
I can’t wait to get back out there, in front of listeners…and to listen to new and engaged readers, as well…
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I really want to encourage readers to seek out Indie writing via their local, Independent, booksellers.
Ask them to shelve your favorite underground or “unknown” writers. Let your small book shop owners know what you’re reading, what you’re enjoying.
Sometimes this industry can seem too “big”, too “official”, too impersonal. Maybe sometimes, it can be; but the way we change that is by simply talking to each other…especially when, as ‘book people’, we talk books!
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Read, read, read.
Read poetry, read prose, read translations, read The Bible, read the Koran, read smut, read maps, read the classics, read every section of a good newspaper, every day. Get rid of your television. Read. Read. Read.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
My father used to say something, along the lines of, “Keep your eyes and ears open, and your mouth shut. If it isn’t written down, it didn’t happen.”
I’ve been spending almost 50 years trying to understand how those things can or could, work together. (chuckles)
What are you reading now?
Poetry collections from Jules Nyquist, Jared Morningstar, and Joshua Bridgewater Hamilton have recently shown up in my mailbox, and I’m flipping through them all.
What’s next for you as a writer?
I really do try not to commit to anything much beyond what I’m planning to eat next Saturday night…
That being said, after a year at home, I’m ready to get back out in front of crowds, back out on the road. Gotta reconnect with writer friends old and new, as venues and spaces open up and re-form.
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?
-“Another Roadside Attraction” -Tom Robbins
-“Desolation Angels” -Jack Kerouac
-“The World According to Garp” -John Irving
-“How to Get F— Off Of a Desert Island” -Someone that got OFF a Desert Island
Author Websites and Profiles
PW Covington Website
PW Covington’s Social Media Links
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