Interview with writer Paul Elmo Keenan
Paul Elmo is a native of Gauley Bridge, WV. He lives and works in Charleston, WV. I've posted some of his poems on
my blog Mouth of the Holler for your enjoyment. I find Paul engaging, earnest, and spirited. His concern for everyone
he knows is evident when you speak with him. He is devoted to writing, and he is grateful for the life we get to live.
He is not afraid to question, to put to the test: what do I know for sure? One of his poems that is my favorite is
"Thoughts Inspired by Lorca." Here are two stanzas from that poem:
If I die,
bury me along the slope
of a West Virginia knoll,
my head toward the moon,
my feet toward the river.
If I die,
read some poems from
those master men who
soothed my soul,
shaped my craft, and fed
my love for home.
Paul says he isn't just a poet, that he's stretching out into other forms of writing. In fact, he's been working on a novel
for several years (I assure you, Paul, that's not unusual for writers). In college, he worked mostly on poetry in his
creative writing classes. The epiphany about writing in other genres came when he listened to wise teacher Jean
Anaporte. Then he realized how complex poetry is. Writing prose frees his mind and functions as a form of meditation.
He says his work, " . . . Is more metaphysical. I write for myself and I focus on what makes me well . . . I'm
fascinated with math and the composition of matter you find in music and water, light and wind." He quoted a line
from Gilead, a novel by Marilynne Robinson. The main character, reflecting on his long life, says, "I wish I'd paid
more attention to water."
Recently, Paul traveled to Mexico. He sought solitude and concentrated time to read over his novel, The Alleged
Johnny Real, to make editorial notes for the final draft. The book is written in the epistolary (letter) form. The
protagonist, a bar tender, writes letters to a dead man, a man he feels responsible for his death. But a funny thing
happened on the way to Oaxaca: he wrote a journal of his experience going to and being in Mexico. The journal turned
into a creative nonfiction book that he worked on while there. Its title is The Little House of the Devil. He wrote it in
longhand, feeling that is organic and can foster a stronger connection to the page. The process of using pen and
paper engendered a dreamlike state while he was writing. He doesn't do that so much these days, but it's a form he
returns to on occasion.
Stephen King's, On Writing, gave him one of the most important lessons he learned about writing: discipline--sitting
down and writing. Discipline is difficult for most of us, but I think his 1,200 page novel and his 90,000 word
nonfiction book are testament that Paul took the lesson and made it work for him. Stay tuned for more fine works
from this writer in the future.
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Paul edited The Light that Splits the Dark, a collection of high school essays and poems crafted from solitude and
reflection, published by Publishers Place of Huntington in 2002.