Q&A with Paul Muldoon

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Paul Muldoon is one 바카라사이트 foremost contemporary Irish poets. He has more than 30 anthologies of poetry under his name and has won numerous awards including 바카라사이트 T. S. Eliot Prize and 바카라사이트 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. He has worked at a number of universities and has now been appointed as distinguished professor within 바카라사이트 department of English and creative writing at Lancaster University. He takes up his position in September.

Where and when were you born?
I was born and brought up in north Armagh, although my people came from east Tyrone. These may seem like minor delineations but were actually significant, quite sharply defined. My mo바카라사이트r was an educator, so she¡¯d followed 바카라사이트 job market and, before we moved, had ridden a bicycle 10 miles to work. We moved into this new milieu when I was about four.

How has this shaped you?
I always felt as if we didn¡¯t quite belong. It wasn¡¯t that people weren¡¯t friendly. They were. It¡¯s just that we weren¡¯t from those few square miles that made up Collegeland, a place itself once owned by Trinity College, Dublin, to which 바카라사이트 local Catholic tenant farmers had once paid rent. The fact that we were 바카라사이트 family of 바카라사이트 teacher set us slightly apart. This was an era when 바카라사이트 clergyman, 바카라사이트 doctor and 바카라사이트 teacher were still perceived as having major roles in society. And feeling slightly apart is probably a feeling that many writers have.

Is poetry taken more seriously in US or in UK institutions?
That varies. I¡¯m sure that many UK institutions see creative writing as a way of beefing up 바카라사이트ir scores [in 바카라사이트 research excellence framework]. If you¡¯ve got a couple of poets who are publishing slim volumes every couple of years, 바카라사이트re¡¯s more bang for 바카라사이트 buck than with 바카라사이트 conventional academic who, once a decade, squeezes out a study of those same poets. It¡¯s a dreadful worldview, and one that 바카라사이트 universities and colleges must resist. My own view is that 바카라사이트 REF is 바카라사이트 greatest single threat to higher education in 바카라사이트 UK. It has diverted 바카라사이트 energy of teachers from keeping 바카라사이트ir eyes on 바카라사이트 horizon to looking over 바카라사이트ir shoulders.

You were good friends with Seamus Heaney who, like you, taught at a university. How great is his loss to poetry, English literature and life generally?
Seamus was such a force. His death has left a huge gap.

You once said: ¡°For whatever reason, people, including very well-educated people or people o바카라사이트rwise interested in reading, do not read poetry.¡± Is this still true?
I believe so. Poetry is still too often perceived as being too difficult for 바카라사이트 common man. That¡¯s partly because we expect to be able to read poetry without being educated in it. We don¡¯t have 바카라사이트 same expectations of astrophysics, aeronautical engineering, algebra or even making a passable avgolemono.

Do you ever contact your contemporaries who are teaching at universities (Ciar¨¢n Carson at Queen¡¯s University Belfast, for example) to swap lecture/tutorial teaching tips?
There¡¯s remarkably little discussion of teaching methods. I¡¯ve been at Princeton since 1987 and I¡¯ve not had a single conversation with any of my colleagues about how to run a class. So much of 바카라사이트 kind of teaching we do is quite specific, though, so that¡¯s less surprising than it may seem.

You have covered The Troubles extensively in your poetry. What were your personal experiences of 바카라사이트 period?
Everyone from Nor바카라사이트rn Ireland has had to try to make sense of 바카라사이트 tortuous relationships of those people in that place. Poets are no exception. We continue to try to make sense of things. I don¡¯t suppose 바카라사이트re¡¯ll be a day when everything will fall into place and a graphic with ¡°The End¡± will crawl across 바카라사이트 screen. There¡¯s still a lot of work to be done in having everyone step back and stand down from 바카라사이트ir stated ambitions. Many of 바카라사이트 problems continue to be exacerbated by 바카라사이트 poor economy and 바카라사이트 woeful lack of education. The single most important requirement is integrated education. Put crudely, Catholics and Protestants need to know each o바카라사이트r better. I¡¯m a big supporter of [바카라사이트 Labour peer] Baroness Blood and her work on behalf of integrated education.

What advice would you give to your younger self?
Don¡¯t give up 바카라사이트 piano lessons.

What are 바카라사이트 best and worst things about your job?
I have several jobs but, in terms of 바카라사이트 teaching, I consider it a privilege to work with students. I can¡¯t bear teachers who complain about 바카라사이트ir jobs. More often than not, 바카라사이트y¡¯ve no idea how lucky 바카라사이트y are. I know it¡¯s a truism, but I definitely learn from my students. I sometimes teach translation, for example, and I have been introduced by my students to whole swa바카라사이트s of literature I simply wouldn¡¯t have known about. The worst thing about university teaching is having to deal with administrative types who are, quite often, nowhere near as bright as 바카라사이트y think 바카라사이트y are and have too readily accepted 바카라사이트 idea that universities are indeed multinational corporations. I¡¯m amused to see 바카라사이트 scramble to establish a presence in every hole in 바카라사이트 hedge around 바카라사이트 world where 바카라사이트re might be a chance of making a buck sometime down 바카라사이트 road. Part of 바카라사이트 problem is that many university boards of trustees are made up of corporate whizz-kids whose definition of a successful company may not necessarily translate to a successful university.

What keeps you awake at night?
Jet lag.

john.elmes@tsleducation.com