William Taylor Jr. IN CONVERSATION WITH DAVID LAWTON
William Taylor Jr. lives and writes in the Tenderloin neighborhood of San Francisco. He is the author of numerous books of poetry, and a volume of fiction. His work has been published widely in journals across the globe, including Rattle, The New York Quarterly, and The Chiron Review. He is a five-time Pushcart Prize nominee and was a recipient of the 2013 Kathy Acker Award. Pretty Things to Say (Six Ft. Swells Press, 2020) is his latest collection of poetry.
Find his poem “The Way That Fitzgerald Said” in the latest great weather for MEDIA anthology, Arriving at a Shoreline.
Watch William in our November 19, 2022 Arriving at a Shoreline video celebration.
David Lawton: great weather for MEDIA loves San Francisco, and the community of poets there we have established relationships with. You are an important part of that scene. It's been a rough last couple of years. How is everybody holding up? How has the reading scene weathered the Covid period?
William Taylor Jr: It has indeed been a strange few years, and the pandemic definitely disrupted the close-knit literary scene here in SF. The majority of the local literary community tend to be sociable folks - they meet at the bars and cafes, and chat and workshop or whatever. And ongoing live readings, opens mics, etc. are a big part of the scene as well. All of this was suddenly gone when everything shut down. Zoom, of course, was the collective answer to such issues. A few local groups started meeting weekly online just to drink and bullshit, since they could no longer meet at the bars. Once the poets discovered the magic of Zoom, all the readings and open mics went online. Which was great at first, it allowed people to have their community, and let people participate from anywhere. Groups of far-off people interacted together who never thought to do so before the pandemic. It eventually became a bit much for me, though, as people overcompensated and went a bit overboard with all the online stuff. You couldn’t keep up with all of it even if you wanted to. I know I got burnt out on it, anyway. Though it was kinda nice to attend readings without having to wear pants. Overall, I found a lot of the online events to be a bit sterile. I much prefer readings at cafes and bars so you can engage in banter and really interact with and get a feel for the crowd. It really makes a difference for me. I’m glad to say all that is happening again.
Speaking strictly of myself, the pandemic really put a big cramp in my creative process, as I tend to get a lot of my ideas from sitting at a bar or cafe and just putting down what’s going on around me. Being home all the time and having little space to myself really made it difficult for me to get much creative work done. So, I'm very happy to be able to be able to meander about the city again.
David Lawton: Jack Micheline is one of the most legendary figures of the San Francisco scene. I know that you had the opportunity to edit a collection of Micheline's poems. Did you have any experience of Micheline in the flesh? What was it like working on a book by such a legend?
William Taylor Jr: I’ve been a big Jack Micheline fan for a number of years, though sadly never got to experience him in the flesh. He passed in 1998 and I wasn’t living in SF until 2003. I came to the city occasionally in the later 90s for readings and such, but never ran into him. A few years back I found myself talking to Bruce Isaacson of Zeitgeist Press at some event. Bruce had published some of Jack’s work and had been talking with Jack’s son Vince about putting out a comprehensive collection, but Bruce never quite had the time to do it on his own. He knew I was a fan and asked if I’d be interested in putting it together; curating a selection of Jack’s work using poems from his entire output. I obviously jumped at the chance. I greatly enjoyed the process – choosing what I thought to be his strongest poems, making sure to include examples of all his various styles. I think the end result is a solid introduction to Jack’s poetry. It was a wonderful experience, like attending a show by a favorite band and being invited to choose the set list. If you’ll allow me to plug the thing, anyone who’s interested in Jack Micheline can pick up a copy at Zeitgeit Press.
David Lawton: Your poem The Way That Fitzgerald Said in this year’s anthology seems to both ache and anchor. Can you give us a window into its creation, as well as Fitzgerald's influence?
William Taylor Jr: I was having a conversation with a friend who was a big Fitzgerald fan and at some point she referenced a passage from Fitzgerald’s The Beautiful and the Damned. (She actually just said, “like in that Fitzgerald quote” and I had to do some Googling to find the source.) “Things are sweeter when they’re lost. I know - because once I wanted something and got it. It was the only thing I ever wanted badly, Dot, and when I got it it turned to dust in my hand.”
That, and a few other things she said at the time stuck with me, and I jotted them down in my notebook, carried them around with me for years and eventually it resulted in the poem. I guess the poem is just built around a few things she said, and is an attempt to both capture the feel of the conversation itself and its subject matter - the longing to possess people or things and the inevitable loss that follows, whether or not the goal of possession is ultimately obtained. It's about longing, futility, sorrow and loss. You know, life stuff.
David Lawton: Your cat (or cats) seem(s) to be ubiquitous in your work. In your anthology poem, in author photos, blog posts. What is it that cat energy does for you?
William Taylor Jr: There have been very few periods in my life when I haven't had a cat (or cats) as a living companion. My poems tend to incorporate my surroundings, so my feline friends will often make an appearance in one form or another. I sometimes use them as symbols for various ideas. They just go about their business, no matter what horrors may be happening in your personal life or the world at large. They just want comfort and a place in which to feel safe. They can teach you some things about life and death, and having something to care for can help to keep you going during the dark times. If you find yourself at a point in life where it's difficult to find something to love, you can at least love your cat, and work from there.
David Lawton: A couple of years ago, you had a serious health scare. How has that changed you and your work?
William Taylor Jr: I was born with a faulty aortic valve, and I knew I would have to have surgery to have it replaced at some point, though I thought it would be a bit further on down the line. But a few years back I showed up to my yearly check-up and they told me the surgery had to take place sooner rather than later. One of the most stressful parts of the ordeal was having the choice of valve options. The completely artificial valve would last for the rest of my days, but I would have to constantly be on creepy blood thinning medication, keep a particular diet, and watch my alcohol intake. With the bovine valve, I wouldn’t have to change my lifestyle much, or take the meds, but it’ll supposedly start to wear out in 8-10 years and I’ll have to have it replaced again. I opted for the latter and may well be cursing myself for this some years down the road. It made sense at the time. In any case, the operation didn’t go perfectly, and after the procedure the two chambers of my heart weren't communicating, so they had to install a permanent pacemaker as well. As to how it's changed me and my work, well, my mortality looms more real and certain than it has in the past. The fact that I'm being kept alive by some man-made battery-operated thingamajig is always now somewhere at the back of my mind and creeps me out if I dwell upon it too long. I like to think it gives me at least some sense of urgency and makes me a bit more mindful of how I spend my hours. But in truth I probably just sit around drinking beers and staring out windows as much as ever.
David Lawton: What is in store next for Bill Taylor?
Just muddling along as ever, trying to find the time and energy to get creative work done between the day job and all the other stuff that life throws at you that keeps you from doing they stuff you wanna do. A new book of poems late this year or early in the new one, I believe. Trying to put more time into stories and visual art as well. Ever onward, thank you!
Arriving at a Shoreline is an invigorating collection of poetry and short fiction from sixty-four writers across the United States and beyond. The anthology also contains interviews with National Book Award winner Martín Espada and legendary Bay Area poet Jack Foley.
Submissions for our anthologies are open October 15 to January 15.