Spotlight On Writers
SMiles
@stephenmiles2
- Where, do you hail from?
I live in the lake district, Cumbria England, where the air is clean and the sky’s usually grey.
- What is the greatest thing about the place you call home?
The landscapes, a peninsula with the Irish sea on three sides to the west, mountains and lakes to the east.
- What turns you on creatively?
My inspiration has been my dyslexia.
I’m 54 years young, diagnosed dyslexic at 47, turning self expectation upside down. Reading avidly I found me.
The first poet I came across was Charles Bukowski, I’d found the talent to relate to, writing about the life beyond his nose, no babbling brook, no conforming to rules of others. This lead to Alan Ginsburg, Ted Hughes, Tom Gunn, and many others. While simultaneously reading of the wider world.
I began to write, incorporating reference of my own optical view.
- What is your favorite word, and can you use it in a poetic sentence?
My most memorable word is promiscuous.
A substitute teacher at my school set time aside to work with me. Giving a word a day to write about, promiscuous being the first.
- What is your pet peeve?
Grammar Nazi’s.
Dyslexia doesn’t get easier, but my quality of mistakes improved immeasurably.
That said, Spellchecks (SC) became my best friend, not always faithful, not always reliable, but when I think how far I’ve come, with two children’s books and exceeding 50 poems published, I’m grateful to have SC in my corner.
- What defines SMiles?
I’m me, writing what I see through my eyes, with my cognitive experiences, that’s allowed me to forgive myself for being dyslexic.
I stood on stage at the Bloomsbury festival in front of 700 people reading a poem I’d written, the audience was listening and I thought wow, how lucky am I life’s so sweet.
My mantra is the harder I work the luckier I get.
- Feminine Sail - May 30, 2019
- Letter Of Retrospect - April 27, 2019
- Once Known - March 31, 2019
