The Write Stuff: William Taylor Jr. on Doing Your Best to Ride Out the Dry Spells

The Write Stuff is a series of interview profiles conducted by Litseen, where authors give exclusive readings from their work.

William Taylor Jr. lives and writes in the Tenderloin neighborhood of San Francisco. Broken When We Got Here, his latest book of poetry, and An Age of Monsters, his first collection of fiction, are both available from Epic Rites Press. The Blood of a Tourist, a book of new poems, will be published in early 2014 by Sunnyoutside Press. William was a recipient of the 2013 Acker Award.

When people ask what do you do, you tell them... ?

It depends upon who's asking. Usually I'll just mention my day job. If pushed or cornered by the right person I might let it slip that I sometimes write poetry. But everybody writes poetry. And if you tell someone you write poetry, they'll inevitably ask you what your poetry is about, and that's the worst question ever.

What's your biggest struggle -- work or otherwise?

Finding a balance in doing what I have to do to keep a roof over my head and doing the things that give my life some semblance of meaning. I get depressed and grumpy when I'm not using enough of my time creating.

If someone said I want to do what you do, what advice would you have for them?

Gosh, that could mean any number of things. All in all, I certainly couldn't recommend it to everyone. There's not much in the way of sleep or financial stability involved.