Interview: Poet Scott W. Williams

Scott W. Williams is a writer, poet, musician and all around nice guy.

MCL: You were raised in Baltimore. How and when did you come to Buffalo, New York?

SWW: I came to Buffalo in 1971 for an Assistant Professor position at UB.

MCL: You lectured quite a bit. What did you lecture on?

SWW: For 41 years, from 1971 to 2012 I was I the Mathematics Department at UB, retiring as Full Professor.

MCL: What is the "American Folk Art Gallery"?

SWW: I think you mean The Rochester Folk Art Guild. Since 1960 it has been a group of craftspeople working together. In 1967 it moved to a farm in the Finger Lakes region. I was a blacksmith with them from 1972 to 1983. I am still part of group but only as a helper.

MCL: You also played jazz piano. Impressive. When did that start for you?

SWW: My mother was a classical cellist my father was a jazz pianist. I began playing both piano and saxophone when I was 11. At some point it was clear that would either be a serious musician or a serious mathematician. I chose the latter when I entered college, and played piano for fun.

MCL: How did poetry enter your life?

SWW: My mother had a Master's in English from Johns Hopkins U. She had an extensive library of poets, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Phyliss Wheatley, Countee Cullen, Jean Toomer, Langston Hughes, Hart Crane, Walt Whitman are all I recall looking at.

MCL: You write quite a bit. What keeps you motivated?

SWW: The famed poet Galway Kinnell has said, "It's the poet's job to figure out what's happening within oneself, to figure out the connection between self and the world." This is my primary motivation. In the morning I meditate and then try to write sometime later. The key is what I tell my daughters, "Don't try to write a poem just write and sometimes a poem pops out."

MCL: We all have a style. Can you describe yours?

SWW: The styles I write in have names Bio, Burlesque, Free Verse, Ghazal, Haiku, and visual.

MCL: When a poem is in print ... newspaper, magazine, book ... How does it make you feel?

SWW: When a poem is published I feel my goal (see Kinnell quote above) is satisfied.

MCL: Do you write every day?

SWW: I write for 30 minutes every day.

MCL: Finally ... Promote yourself. What's coming up for you in 2016-2017?

SWW: In October 2016 I will be a featured reader at Poets Hall in Erie. In 2017, I hope to finish my next two books "Aliens Bursting" (Haiku, Ghazals and Poemlets only) and "Buffer's Melody."

For more information on Scott W. Willaims:

http://www.math.buffalo.edu/~sww/

https://www.facebook.com/PoetsHall/

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