We’ve got poet and author Luke Palmer to answer some of our festive questions! We hope you enjoy reading them.
What’s on your Christmas list this year?
Do you know what – this is the first time this year I’ve had a spare minute to think about that question! With three young children, I’m well aware my needs at Christmas come quite a way down the list. And I’m also rubbish in that I always draw a blank when asked straight up, even if I’ve been thinking about a particular thing for ages. People normally buy me books, which is always well received (obviously), but I’m the same if asked for a wish list or if I’m even in a book shop – I get flooded with all those names on spines and covers and can’t remember at all what I went in for. That said, a hefty book voucher is always well received, along with a couple of hours on my own to browse at leisure and spend it, of course. Oh, and I need a new pair of Dr Martens.
What festive traditions did you grow up with?
I’m the oldest of four, and even after I was ‘too old’ for Father Christmas, I was part of creating the build-up for my younger siblings. So the magic lasted longer for me than it could have, I suppose, and I still really enjoy that fantasy side of things. Ours was always a fairly standard Christmas – not particularly glitzy. We did have a few choice decorations – the fuzzy drunken duck being the highlight – that got a little cheer each year when they came out of the box. Nowadays, it’s still those small things that most appeal to me – the crisp smell in the air, cosying up with family, sharing food and drink. I’m very much on that ‘merry little Christmas’ vibe.
What are you currently reading or any recommendations for our readers?
I was completely blown away by Louise Finch’s ‘The Eternal Return of Clara Hart’. It’s a pacy, clever and tonally note-perfect YA thriller that, for me, remaps what the contemporary genre is capable of achieving. Everyone should read that one! I normally have about half a dozen books on the go at once, and I’ve almost finished the audiobook of Bob Mortimer’s ‘And Away’ which I’m really enjoying, especially in his own voice. He’s like my comedy Dad and I love him.
I’ve also recently finished a book called ‘The Fish’, by Joanne Stubbs. It’s a sideways look at eco writing and very well done. I studied with Jo at Bath Spa on the Creative Writing MA. She’s got a wicked sense of humour and humanity, which all comes through her writing. And I’ve just started Robert Seethalers ‘The Field’. I really like that stripped-back prose style. I discovered Sigrid Nunez this year who is a master at that, too. I’d strongly recommend her work. I read a lot of poetry too, and could recommend poets all day. Fiona Benson’s ‘Ephemeron’ and Gail McConnell’s ‘The Sun is Open’ have been highlights this year. People should read more poetry.
How do you research and plan before beginning to write?
In terms of prose, it always starts with character. ‘Grow’ is entirely dependent on the protagonist, Josh, who turned up in my head one day fully formed. You just have to listen to what they’re doing, what they want, and follow their lead. I do plan a little – I like to know where characters need to get to and have an idea for an ending – but I tend to take a pretty circuitous route towards it, and things are very fluid until the first draft is finished. I don’t like to do a huge amount of research until the first draft is done, either. If I know more about a topic than a character, I find it hard to keep secrets from them. I’m also wary of books that wear their knowledge too heavily on the page, like they’re written from the research up. If a character feels authentic, then that’s the important thing. The context around them can be filled in later.
What are you working on next?
I’m currently working on edits for my second book, which will be out in Autumn of 2023. It’s not a sequel to Grow, but it’s very much in the same universe. It’s about a group of boys struggling to define their various, emerging masculinities. One of them, who wants to be an entrepreneur, gets caught up in a county lines drug smuggling organisation and his friends seem too absorbed by their own problems to notice at first. It’s structurally a lot more ambitious than Grow so it’s taken a while to get right. I’ll also start editing my first full poetry collection next year, which will be out in early 2024. And I’ve just finished the first draft of a third YA book. It’s something of a love letter to music, so a bit of a change of pace for me, but with plenty of young-man troubles thrown in for good measure!
You can find out more about Luke, his poetry, and his books here: https://lukepalmerwriting.com/
This interview was conducted in 2022.