TalkTime: A Citizen of Literature
As a poet, novelist, and essayist, Amit Majmudar balances his love of the written word with his day job as a diagnostic nuclear radiologist. Widely published, his poems have appeared in The New Yorker, The Norton Introduction to Literature (11th edition), and Best of the Best American Poetry: 1988–2012. Majmudar, Ohio’s first Poet Laureate, has won the Donald Justice Award. His latest poetry collection is called Dothead.
(Photo, left: Ami Buch Majmudar)
You grew up in both India and the United States.
When did you move to the United States? What was
that transition like for you? Do you remember it?
I was born in the United States, then moved to India
(Ahmedabad) for one and a half years when I was
8 years old, then moved back to the United States.
So I remember all of it. I didn't like it much at the time,
being unused to dust, crowding, cockroaches, lizards,
and so on. But I look back on it fondly and consider it
the most formative experience of my life. I picked up
two languages and got in touch with my whole extended
family. And the experience, ever after, kept me
just alienated enough from both societies to trigger my
emigration to the library. It is probably why I became a
citizen of literature.
What made you take to poetry? When did you
start writing?
I started writing when I was 11 or so. I started
with spy thrillers. I came to poetry a little later, around
15 or so. I don't know what made me take to it, perhaps
momentum from a past life. But I went at it pretty
hard, that's for sure.
I have seen poets who labor over their work a lot,
editing poems over and over again. What does the
layperson not understand about how difficult it is to
write poetry?
It is easy to write bad poetry even if you've edited
it to death—that is, all the editing doesn't help, you're
whipping a proverbial dead horse into shape. That is
why it is so difficult to write good poetry. It’s hard to see
your own work with clear cold eyes, like a stranger. I’ve
been doing this for years and I still haven't mastered
the simultaneous intimacy and estrangement from
one’s own work necessary to ensure it reads as good as
it feels to write.
How has your poetry evolved over the years since
you first started writing it?
I suppose I've gotten more reader-friendly over
the years. I used to write very long epic stuff which
was difficult to understand, written in a very idiosyncratic
style. Now my works are more publishable—that
is, they conform to contemporary editorial notions of
what a poem should be. I think they're actually better
for that.
You also write fiction, and nonfiction, for that matter.
How do you decide what form (a poem, story) your
creative idea will take?
When I have a sound I want to make, I write poetry.
When I have a story I want to tell, I write fiction. When I
have an idea I want to convey, I write nonfiction.
How do you balance your career as a nuclear radiologist,
and fatherhood, and still find time to write?
I don't sleep much, and when I'm awake, I don't
waste time.
What similarities
do you see
between the world
of medicine and literature?
Empathy and
careful observation
are key in both.
What advice would you give to
an Indian-American kid about writing?
Is there one measure of success? What should
the definition of success be, according to you?
There is no one measure of success. Some seek
sales and fame, others seek awards and praise. In
both instances, you are competing for positive reinforcement
from strangers (either the masses or
elite literary cliques), based on their subjective reactions
to word sequences, so maybe writing for a living
is not the wisest job for a young person, or anyone.
I would tell an Indian-American kid to listen to Mummy and Pappa and yes, do well in school and get a job. Because even if you're talented, you can't trust these people to recognize your talent. And if you do write what the masses or cliques want to see, and you gain the rewards associated with pleasing one or both of those groups, what have you accomplished? What have you done but put out a product, either mass-marketed or niche-marketed? That's hitching your wagon not to a star but to fireflies. Provide for your family in some reliable way. Find a job that doesn't consume your whole day, and write in your free time.
Poornima Apte is a Boston-area freelance writer and editor. Learn more at WordCumulus.WordPress.com.
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