| Muses Review Online Author Interviews Winter 2006 - Jan Feb Mar |
| Featured Poet for Jan 2006 Harry E. Gilleland Jr.: From Microbiology to Poetry Interview Conducted by Andrew Angus |
| Note: The interview is cut short because the full interview will be published in the print edition of Muses Review. |
| Muses Review Winter 2006 Jan Feb Mar Table of Contents Editors Message Editor's Poem Poems Poem Reviews Book Reviews Interviews Book Ads |
| Harry E. Gilleland, Jr. Poet from Louisiana |
| From: "Harry Gilleland" To: "muses review" Subject: Long interview Date: Fri, 23 Dec 2005 11:33:57 -0600 I. Your opinion 1. AA: What motivated you to write poetry? HGJ: At the time I first began to write poetry I was a Professor of Microbiology at LSU Health Sciences Center's School of Medicine in Shreveport. As such, I had written scientifically for many years, including research papers, abstracts, grant applications, progress reports, lecture notes, etc. One day as I sat at my computer surfing the Internet during my brown bag lunch, I encountered a pop-up ad for a poetry contest. You know the sort - type a poem to fit in the box and have a chance to win a prize. Just for fun, I tried writing a poem. I really enjoyed it! The ability to be creative and imaginative was so liberating compared to my usual formal scientific writing style. That moment I fell in love with writing poetry, and I have not stopped writing poetry since. 2. AA: Why do you like to compose poetry? HGJ: It is challenging and fun. I enjoy the chance to be creative and to express my views in a way that entertains and amuses others. Writing a good poem is quite satisfying and gives me a feeling of accomplishment. Moreover, after being a poet for years, I now have a real need to write poetry. If I go a while without writing poetry, I feel as though something is missing in my life. Writing poetry makes me feel complete. 3. AA: Can a person make a living out of writing poetry when he is an outsider in literary circles? HGJ: It is highly unlikely that one can make a living writing poetry. It is a truism that poetry is a hard-sell. There are so many poetry books published each year by unknown poets that the chances of yours selling well are not good. Most traditional publishers and agents will not accept poetry unless the poet is already famous. It is a real Catch-22 for the unknown poet trying to publish his/her work. 4. AA: You are such a prolific poet. You published two poetry books within two years time. Is there any secret you want to share to our readers about your awesome productiveness? HGJ: I think like a poet in how I view the world. Everything I read in the newspaper or a magazine, everything I see on TV, everything I see around me suggests a poem or storoem to me. Whatever I see, I ask myself what are my feelings about that or what message is contained in it, and then I try to capture that in a poem. Of course, it also helps that I am retired and have my time free to devote to writing poetry. My "secret" would be to write every day about what you experienced that day. 5. AA: What are your favorite themes in writing poetry? HGJ: I like to write about everyday events in a way that makes the reader think about his beliefs. I like to write about Nature and its lessons for Man. I enjoy writing about my family, particularly my wife and my dogs. I also like to write humorous pieces. 6. AA: Why should people read your poetry book or any poetry book? HGJ: For enjoyment and for a fresh viewpoint on the world. Hopefully, the poetry will make you think and consider life in a new light. 7. AA: Tell the readers about your latest poetry book - Gilleland Poetry: Storoems and Poems. HGJ: This is the second collection of my poetry published as a book. It contains approximately 180 of my storoems (story poems) and poems. The poems are written in various styles, including rhyming, free-verse, acrostic, and more. The subjects include daily events, Nature, family, political situations, humor, and various other topics. The poetry is easy to read and enjoyable to everyone. You don't need a Fine Arts degree to understand my poetry. I try to both entertain the reader and make him/her think as well as feel. There truly is something to appeal to everyone in this collection, whether you normally read poetry or not. 8. AA: Why did you choose an umbrella as a design for your book cover? HGJ: The umbrella stands for poetry being so varied in its styles, yet it all is poetry. What qualifies as poetry is covered by a rather large umbrella (or tent, if you wish). My poetry books contain acrostic poems, haiku, rhymed and free-verse poems, as well as storoems. A storoem is a story poem - a story told using poetic techniques such as end-rhyming, alliteration, enjambment, stanzas, etc. It is a unique form of poetry, but poetry all the same. 9. AA: Do you have a pen name when you write poems? HGJ: I publish in print only under my name. On Internet poetry forums, I am known as LaHarry (for Louisiana Harry) or HarryG. 10. AA: Are you more creative as a poet or as a microbiologist? HGJ: As a poet, by far. As a microbiologist, one must follow scientific principles and established guidelines. One must back everything one writes with facts and data. Even one's theories must be proven with data in order to be accepted. One must be a logical thinker to succeed as a scientist. No talking animals or angels are allowed in scientific writings. 11. AA: Do you regret that you did not take poetry seriously when you were younger? HGJ: Yes, very much. I get so much pleasure from writing poetry that I wish I had become a poet much sooner in life. 12. AA: Where can people buy your poetry books aside from Lulu and Muses Review? HGJ: My books may be purchased at the various on-line Internet booksellers, such as Amazon.com., Barnes & Nobles.com, Books-A-Million.com, and others. They may also be ordered through your local bookstore. 13. AA: Do you like to travel? If yes, in what countries have you been so far? HGJ: Yes, I enjoy traveling a great deal. So far I have visited these countries: Mexico, Canada, Vietnam, Germany, England, France, Austria, and Italy. 14. AA: Is "Wandering Warrior" your longest poem in your Gilleland Poetry? What is the poem all about? HGJ: Yes, taken all together, Wandering Warrior is my longest poem. It is a storoem written in seven parts that tells the tale of a warrior named Aldric, who was king's champion, but who is now wandering the country being hunted by the winning army after his king was killed in battle. He is depressed and angry, ready to kill with any provocation. He meets a girl named Gwendolyn, befriends her, and falls in love. He takes her to a nunnery for sanctuary, then plans to raise an army to dethrone the new king. The story ends after the decisive battle has been fought and the king comes to the sanctuary to find the girl. 15. AA: Nowadays, people want to be called a poet. What is so good about being a poet? HGJ: Being a poet means you write poetry, which is something that is difficult to do well. It also means that you view the world in a different way than non-poets do. Being a poet says something good about you. 16. AA: Why did you choose your career as a microbiologist instead of in literature? HGJ: I always had an interest in biology growing up. I collected insects, raised tadpoles into frogs, read every Nature book at the neighborhood public library, and otherwise exhibited a scientific curiosity from an early age. I grew up wanting to be a biologist of some sort. At college I discovered microbiology and loved it. I never considered any career except one as a scientist. 17. AA: Did you enjoy your career as a microbiologist? HGJ: Very much so! I performed scientific research for nearly forty years as a graduate student, postdoctoral fellow, and through the ranks as a faculty member. I did exciting research into a vaccine for Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a bacterium that is an important opportunistic pathogen that kills many people each year. I published some 45 research papers and attended vaccine conferences to present my findings. It was heady stuff! Plus I taught microbiology to approximately 3,000 medical students, in addition to mentoring microbiology graduate students. I am proud of and enjoyed my career. 18. AA: What event/s triggered you to go into poetry? HGJ: See answer to question # 1. 19. AA: Please tell our readers, why did you start so late in poetry at the age of 57 years old? HGJ: It was sheer accident or fate. As a scientist eating my lunch at my desk and surfing the Internet, I happened upon an ad for a poetry contest. For fun, I decided to try writing a poem. I enjoyed writing poetry so much that I have continued to do so ever since. Had I not seen that ad during lunch when I had free time, I probably never would have thought to try my hand at writing poetry. 20. AA: What are your plans in five years time as a poet? HGJ: I hope to have shown much improvement as a poet. (One should always hope to improve in order not to stagnate.) I hope to have written enough poetry to be able to publish several more books of my storoems and poems. 21. AA: Do you have a literary agent? HGJ: No. 22. AA: Have you experienced making book-signing tours? HGJ: No. 23. AA: What company is helping you distribute your books? HGJ: My books are printed through Lulu Enterprises and distributed through Ingrams. 24. AA: Have you experienced reading your poems in front of the audience? HGJ: No. Even though I lectured regularly to classes of 125 medical students and presented research papers to audiences of hundreds of fellow scientists in my career as a Professor of Microbiology, I think reading my poetry before a group would be daunting. Part II. Your Background 1. AA: Were you interviewed in a literary magazine or newspaper before? HGJ: __X__ Yes ___ No AA: If Yes, can you name the literary magazine or newspaper which interviewed you? HGJ: I was interviewed in the Friday Preview magazine section of The Shreveport Times. AA: If yes, when or what year? HGJ: March 26, 2004 2 . AA: Your official website address: HGJ: http://www.gillelands.com/poetry/ 3..AA: What poetry/literary organizations did you join? Are you an officer or a member of the board of directors of these poetry/ literary organizations? HGJ: None 4. AA: Can you name at least 9 of your favorite poems in your full-length poetry book (Gilleland Poetry): HGJ: "For Linda", "I Am Your Moon", "A Wandering Warrior (parts I-VII)", "Big Bad Black Bart", "Tsunami!", "The Canine's Howling At The Moon", "Why The Nighttime Songster Sings", "True Lust", "U.S. Bear Parts For Sale", "The Bog Of Life" Harry E. Gilleland, Jr. December, 2005 |
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| Spotlight On: Harry E. Gilleland Jr., Poet-Writer-Microbiologist by Andrew Angus Harry E. Gillleland Jr. was born in Georgia, USA but now he is living in Shreveport, Louisiana, USA. Harry's life is all about microbiology until one day he met poetry. Harry is a microbiologist by training for 42 years from his college years in 1962 until his retirement in 2004. He took college degree, masteral and doctoral degrees in microbiology in US. He also took post-doctoral studies in Canada. He taught microbiology at the Louisiana State University - Health Sciences Center in Shreveport. He was bitten by the poetry bug at age of 57 years old in the year 2001 when he saw a pop ad about poetry contest during a break time. He joined the poetry contest for fun. From that time on, he was hooked on poetry. Harry is such a prolific poet. He was able to publish two full-length poetry books within two years time. He published his first full-length poetrybook Poetry For The Common Man in 2003 and then followed by Gilleland Poetry in 2005. Each poetrybook has around 190 pages! A total of 380 pages more or less. I asked Harry - Is there any secret you want to share to our readers about your awesome productiveness? Harry revealed his secret: "I think like a poet in how I view the world. Everything I read in the newspaper or a magazine, everything I see on TV, everything I see around me suggests a poem or storoem to me. Whatever I see, I ask myself what are my feelings about that or what message is contained in it, and then I try to capture that in a poem. Of course, it also helps that I am retired and have my time free to devote to writing poetry. My "secret" would be to write every day about what you experienced that day." I asked Harry, why did you start so late in poetry at the age of 57 years old. Harry replied, "It was sheer accident or fate. As a scientist eating my lunch at my desk and surfing the Internet, I happened upon an ad for a poetry contest. For fun, I decided to try writing a poem. I enjoyed writing poetry so much that I have continued to do so ever since. Had I not seen that ad during lunch when I had free time, I probably never would have thought to try my hand at writing poetry. " I reviewed his fiction novella, Bob the Dragon Slayer. The book was easy to read, entertaining and humorous. The book is not bad for a scientist who started out very late as a writer for children or youth. The book combines some elements of King Arthur legend and Lord of the Rings. Does Harry have a potential to be a good poet? I reviewed his two full-length poetrybooks. I believe Harry has what it takes to be a good poet even though he does not have a formal background in Literature nor a masteral or doctoral degree in Literature. In fact, Harry was able to compose a long narrative poem entitled "A Wandering Warrior" which has 90 quatrains. (A quatrain is a 4-line stanza.). An amateur poet writing a 90-quatrain narrative poem could not be considered an amateur poet anymore. Harry is entering a strange, new world of literature where he is a fast learner. The fact that he was able to publish two volumes of poetrybooks with a total of 400 pages within a short period of time is another evidence that he is not an amateur poet anymore. I asked Harry, Are you more creative as a poet or as a microbiologist? Harry said, "As a poet, by far. As a microbiologist, one must follow scientific principles and established guidelines. One must back everything one writes with facts and data. Even one's theories must be proven with data in order to be accepted. One must be a logical thinker to succeed as a scientist. No talking animals or angels are allowed in scientific writings." I asked Harry if he regrets that he did not take poetry seriously when he were younger. To which question, Harry answered, "Yes, very much. I get so much pleasure from writing poetry that I wish I had become a poet much sooner in life." Harry E. Gilleland Jr. amazes me for many reasons. First, he is such a prolific poet composing 400 pages of poetry. Second, he published his first fiction novellette, Bob the Dragon Slayer, in 2005 at the age of 61 yrs old. Third, he was able to compose a 90-quatrain long narrative poem which is already a difficult feat for established poets. How did I meet Harry? I received a package on May 2005. The package contained 2 books for review- Gilleland Poetry and Bob, the Dragon Slayer. After reviewing his 2 books, I decided to feature Harry Gilleland Jr. as "Featured Poet for August 2005" in Manila Review, the sister magazine of Muses Review. Manila Review is supposed to be a literary ezine for Asian poets but there are very few Asian poets composing in English in the internet. So, I was very glad there were some American poets like Harry, willing to be featured in Manila Review. Then, I decided to make Harry our "Featured Poet for January 2006" in Muses Review. Harry's six poems are nominated "Best Poem of Year 2005 for the 2nd Muses Prize" by the editor of Muses Review. The results of the 2nd Muses Prize - Poetry will be known in June or July 2006. Harry enjoyed his profession as a microbiologist for such a long time. He retired from teaching in 2004 and now he is now enjoying a new career as a poet and writer. Only time can tell when Harry will hit the best-sellers list and reap some literary awards. (End) |
| Harry Gilleland's three books: Poetry for the Common Man (2003) Gilleland Poetry (2005) Bob, the Dragon Slayer (2005) |
| Visit Harry E. Gilleland Jr's homepage in Muses Review: www.musesreview.org/harrygillelandjr.html or www.gillelands.com/poetry/ |
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| Harry E. Gilleland, Jr. Poet from Louisiana |