Paul Willis is a professor of English at Westmont College and a former poet laureate of Santa Barbara. Getting to Gardisky Lake is his fourth book of poems. I recently spoke to Willis about his inspiration for his poems, writing in other voices, and religion. (More information about Willis can be found at pauljwillis.com.)
In your new book, you seem to be experimenting with other people’s voices. There’s an Idaho redneck, a rich guy with a very expensive swimming pool, a man on a flight out of Johannesburg. Donald Trump even makes an appearance! I’ve found that writing the occasional persona poem keeps me loose and helps me try on different kinds of syntax. Sometimes I don’t set out to write a persona poem but gradually realize I am channeling someone else’s voice. Then I try to figure out whose. The Donald Trump poem is like that. Though the voice is not exactly his, the sentiments most certainly are.
Other times I realize I am in the presence of someone who has a unique way of putting things, and then the challenge is trying to imitate that voice. The Idaho redneck, as you call him, was married to my mother-in-law. He was a neighbor and hunting guide for Hemingway.