The headline story/article in the Leeds Trinity student newsletter Square One, is a feature review on the first published poetry book by L.F.Whetstone, Observational Expressions of Humanity
John Darley talks to Liam Whetstone about poetry, getting published and Faulty Towers.
This year has seen the first book of poems published by Liam Whetstone, a 3rd Year Media student at Leeds Trinity. Observational Expressions of Humanity represents years of work on his poems. The majority of which he says have “just been scribbled down and have settled down into the poems in the book… I write maybe two or three a day.” Liam’s one of those people that never stop writing, constantly absorbing culture and letting it bubble into his writing; a quick glance through the book’s bibliography reveals influences from Steven Hawking to Joy Division to Faulty Towers.
Throughout his work, Liam constantly attacks the labels that we still find in modern society. One of the most prevalent themes in the book it that of mental illness, of which says that “a person should be defined by who they are and not anything else” and that “there’s a reason why they’re like this, something is wrong with this person and they need our help.”
With this theme we see an impressive selection of approaches for one poet; in ‘Why’, the existentialist inside him erupts in a flurry of emphatic questions, climaxing with “Life has no purpose it is a listless trickle of why should I’s”, a quote from John Wilmot 2nd Earl of Rochester. In another poem, ‘Cave Life’, Liam explores the mind of an anorexic with lines like “… dissolve into nothing / Here I sit in the defining silence”. Through his sparsely punctuated lines and haunting images, Liam’s powerful message rings clear.
Don’t let a few heavy poems convince you that this is a heavy book. With his unpretentious style, Liam makes what could have been preachy material into enjoyable reading; in ‘Normal’ he cuts into the poem’s initial question “What is normal?” with the succinctly witty lines “this all depends on which side of the fence you sit on / or whether there really happens to be a fence / at all.” In later poems, he happily plays with contemporary culture; arguably some of the more frivolous digressions feature references to Father Ted, and in ‘A Remedy for Disappointment’ the phrase “Don’t panic”, famously uttered by Dad’s Army’s Jones. This makes for a consistently pleasing and sensitive read, no matter what the material.
Liam lives for poetry, when asked if he is working on anything for the future, he replied “I’ve written something like 50 more poems, but I’ve got about 120 or 140 drafts that I’ve not used yet. At the moment they’re just ramblings that could be made for other stuff. Usually they come from when I’ll be reading a book or listening to a song or something, I’ll see a phrase or an idea and I’ll think, right, I’ll work on that. Sometimes it’s just a trial and error thing, other times the poems just write themselves.”
His commitment to poetry seems to go further when he’s talking about the process of editing and getting his poems published. The content of his work made it hard for many publishers to see the benefit of going for a collection as honest as Liam’s book. He speaks of getting replies like “sorry, it’s a bit too heavy, we don’t really publish this sort of thing. Maybe if they’re a bit too conservative or something.” His eventual success with getting a deal is also a testament to the selection of chances on offer to new writers at the moment; he’s never met his publishers because “they’re actually in America! So I’ve had to do it all over the internet, by emails and all that. I’d say if there is anyone wanting to get published, there’s loads of publishers online, have a look on there and you’ll find something. But don’t commit straight away, make sure they’re not going to be putting their hands in your work and messing about with it.” Looking at Liam’s story is promising both for prospective writers, who might be looking to getting their work published, and because here we have a talented poet with much more to offer in the future.
John Darley
Liam Whetstone 