National Poetry Month Interview Series: Interview with Poet Terry Jude Miller

Each day in April, in honor of National Poetry Month and our third anniversary issue (find out how to get a copy HERE), we are running an interview with a poet who has been published in Gyroscope Review. Read on.

National Poetry Month Interview Series: Interview with Poet Terry Jude Miller

How will you celebrate National Poetry Month? I teach poetry writing courses to local elementary students.

Pen, pencil or computer first? Voice recorder (first), for collecting seed ideas, the catalog from the recorder, then piece together with pen and paper, then to the computer. 🙂

Who/what are your influences? Walt Whitman, Tony Hoagland, Edward Hirsch, Emily Dickinson, and buckets and buckets of grief.

What topic is the hardest for you to write about and why? The death of my younger brother.  It was unexpected and devastating.   He was my anchor and muse.

What was the worst writing idea you ever had? Trying to emulate Charles Bukowski.

What authors do you love right now? Margaret Atwood.

What is the most important role of poets in 2018? To propagate the species.

Where do you go when you need to recharge? Walk, walk, walk, listen, listen, listen (to poetry podcasts and record spoken word events), and read, read, read….everything I can get my hands on from philosophy to biographies to religious text.

What is your favorite end-of-the-day drink? Chai tea.

Terry Jude Miller lives in Houston, Texas. His book, The Butterfly Canonical (2015 lulu.com), is available HERE. Visit his website at www.PoetTerryMiller.com.