I loved Caleb Powell’s interview of Poe Ballantine in The Sun.
Some bits of wisdom:
If you want to make a difference and stand out, you’re obliged to sound the depths.
on the role of morality in writing:
We all have moral choices to make. We can go out into the world with reckless disregard for anyone but ourselves as we struggle to get what I want, or we can help and teach one another.
hard learned lessons:
Little in the way of wisdom and enlightenment came for Jonah until he was swallowed by that fish, and it was the same for me until I was swallowed by reality. Getting smashed to bits gave me humility, gratitude, and the ability to love and appreciate my fellow humans. Everyone gets smashed to bits: it’s your best opportunity to grow.
to young writers:
Stay open to experience, and realize that most of your years of effort will look like failure. You won’t be alone in your failure, but it will feel like it.
I can’t wait to read Ballantine’s new book, Love & Terror on the Howling Plains of Nowhere, a true-crime story/memoir about his new marriage and family and his Nebraska small town.