10 Questions for David Lloyd
- By Franchesca Viaud
Here, the bodies of children. They died at dusk.
Instead of bread, fed stones from the sling.
Kept from shelter until their bodies stiffened.
The sun failed to keep them warm.
And she, the greatest sun, could not love them,
because of the stones, because of the serpent.
—translated from Waldo Williams' "The Dead Children," Volume 65, Issue 2 (Summer 2024)
Tell us about one of the first pieces you translated.
When I was working on my first book, an anthology titled The Urgency of Identity: Contemporary English-Language Poetry from Wales (TriQuarterly Books/Northwestern University Press), I translated the “Hon” by Welsh-language poet T. H. Parry-Williams with my mother, Mair Lloyd, whose first language was Welsh. I wanted to quote from Parry-Williams’ poem in my anthology Introduction, and translating it allowed me to understand the poem in a newly intimate way. That experience introduced me to the pleasures and challenges of translation.
What writer(s) or works have influenced the way you write now?
I am a poet and fiction writer, as well as a translator. My major influences in poetry are William Carlos Williams and Emily Dickinson, and Welsh poet R. S. Thomas (who primarily published in English). Major influences on my fiction are the stories of Flannery O’Connor and Raymond Carver.
What did you want to be when you were young?
I wanted to be a poet from a young age. My father, who was a minister and a professor of philosophy, had built a good library of literature, philosophy and history at our home, which (along with the city library) fed my reading. I heard him preach every Sunday—his sermons (in Welsh and English) were intellectual and crafted, and delivered with great care. He used to practice his delivery while pacing up and down our living room. Listening to him in church and at community events (including weddings and funerals) impressed on me the power of the spoken word. He died when I was 13. As part of my process of grieving and healing, I wrote about him in a journal, then in poetry.
What drew you to write a translation of this piece in particular?
The poet Waldo Williams (1863-1934) was a pacifist, an environmentalist, and a passionate advocate for the Welsh language, which was (and is) an endangered language. His anti-war poems, such as “The Dead Children” (my translation is in the summer, 2024 Massachusetts Review), responded to the horrors of World War II. He was imprisoned in 1960 and again in 1961 for refusal to pay taxes in protest against the United Kingdom’s participation in the Korean War and military conscription. I find that his anti-war poems are absolutely relevant to the brutal conflicts occurring around the globe right now. I wanted to translate Williams’s poem “The Moment” because of its intense awareness of the present, the charged moments that slip away unnoticed unless recognized and celebrated. My translation of that poem also appears in the summer, 2024 Massachusetts Review.
Is there a city or place, real or imagined, that influences your writing?
I draw inspiration and material from Utica, in central New York, the industrial (now post-industrial) city where I was born and grew up. Utica has consistently welcomed and supported diverse immigrant communities, including the Welsh community which my parents joined upon emigrating to the US. My own neighborhood in south Utica was home to families from Welsh, Italian, Irish, Polish, Lebanese, and Eastern European Jewish backgrounds. Utica is the setting for my first fiction collection, Boys: stories and a novella. My most recent book, a story collection titled The Moving of the Water, is set in the Welsh-American community in Utica during the 1960s. Utica has inspired much of my poetry as well, including my collections Warriors and The Gospel According to Frank.
Is there any specific music that aids you through the writing or editing process?
I don’t write when listening to particular music but find I can write and edit in public places while contemporary music plays in the background—cafes and bars work well. The music distracts my conscious mind so that the unconscious can surface and help shape my writing.
I listened to Frank Sinatra’s music while writing my 2009 poem sequence The Gospel According to Frank, which merges Sinatra’s public persona with Biblical and mythological representations of divinity—from Greek, Irish, and Welsh sources, as well as the Old and New Testaments. The sequence uses various styles and forms, including parable, psalm, proverb, tall tale, and song lyrics. Since I’m not a fan of Sinatra’s music, I delved into that material for background research and inspiration rather than pleasure.
Who typically gets the first read of your work?
My wife Kim Waale and my sister Margaret Lloyd first read drafts of what I write. Kim is an artist, and Margaret is a poet and an artist. They are both adept at identifying language that’s not fully realized; they know how to ask the right questions.
If you could work in another art form what would it be?
When young I played piano and guitar—and I hope to return to instrumental music when time allows. I’ve always loved drawing—scribbling and doodling really. I’d love to engage with visual art more seriously.
What are you working on currently?
I’m working on a poem sequence titled Dust, which relates Medieval Welsh tales (primarily the Mabinogi) to the life of Welsh actor Richard Burton, to explore culture, fame, creativity, class, and related issues. I have an interview with Zoë Brigley about a poem from Dust on the Poetry Wales. I’m publishing poems from Dust right now—you can find them in recent issues of Poetry Salzburg Review, Poetry Wales, and Scintilla. I’m also working on a novel—but it’s too soon for me to say much about that!
What are you reading right now?
I’m re-reading Moby Dick—and truly hearing the amazing intricacy of the prose: it’s so funny, and so beautiful.
DAVID LLOYD is the author of eleven books, including four poetry collections: The Everyday Apocalypse, The Gospel According to Frank, Warriors, and The Body’s Compass, forthcoming from Salmon Poetry. His poems and stories have appeared in many journals including Crab Orchard Review, Denver Quarterly, and Virginia Quarterly Review. In 2000, he received the Poetry Society of America’s Robert H. Winner Memorial Award. He has received two Fulbright Scholar awards: in 2001 at Bangor University, Wales, and in 2021 at Cardiff University, Wales. He directs the Creative Writing Program at Le Moyne College in Syracuse, NY.
