Born in India, and widely travelled throughout North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia, Michael is now based in Newcastle, Australia. He is well-versed in Our World’s societies and cultures, and their beautiful diversity. He has an abiding love for Humanity and Our History. University educated too, he holds Degrees in Politics, International Relations and African Decolonization, as well as holding a Doctor of Law.
Currently 45 years of age, Michael devotes himself to his love of writing, literature, plays, science, and poetry. His current writing interests include: Humanity and History, Humanism and Sovereignty, Metaphysics and The Soul, Religion and Divinity, Consciousness and Reality, plus many others…
He is currently the Executive Editor of Kavya Kishor International, and he is also the founder of ‘The MetaPhysical School’ and the Author of their Manifesto – ‘We Are The MetaPhysicals.’
Michael Hislop – Writer and Poet
Executive Editor of Kavya Kishor International
http://www.michaelhislop.com
Interview with {P.L.O.T.S.}~Creatives Magazine (NYS)
September 2023
What inspired you to start writing Poetry?
I have always Loved the greats and the classics… From Plato… to Dante… to Borges… to Paolo Coelho… and so many Others in between. I had often Thought of taking up The Craft and I had always put the Idea off into the future… My justification: You need a fair bit of Life Experience to be a passable Writer. And, this is true. But really, It was My Excuse. After a tumultuous few years including a Divorce, I sat down at My Computer one day and I wrote My first Poem – The Feather. This is it here…
THE FEATHER
As I sat at writer’s desk
Through my open window
I saw
A feather floating
It was different
From other feather
It glinted in the Light
A different colour
And I reached for it
And it laughed at me
A girl’s voice
A feather of another colour
Attention grabbed
I left my desk
Chasing that other colour
On the wings of the wind It danced away
Staying just out of reach
Still it laughed at me
Attention firmly grabbed
All angered and red
I argued with a howling wind
I hopped and leaped about Still grasping the air
Seeking that elusive feather Still it laughed at me
Always just out of my reach
Not fool or Englishman
I knew not to piss in the wind
Expecting to cleanly win
So akimbo astride
I stopped; I thought
I realised
Holding my hand out I watched
The feather floating
Slowly ever so slowly
Into my open hand
Michael Hislop
14.09.2021
What is your favorite Poem? And why?
The Dream by Jorge Luis Borges
When the midnight clocks are doling out their plethora of time,
I will travel farther than the shipmates of Ulysses to the place of dreams, far past the reach of human memory.
And from that submarine world, I’ll gather scraps of what resists my understanding: herbs from a simple botany, animals of every genus, conversations with the dead, faces that are really masks, words in ancient languages,
and, sometimes, the incomparable horror the breaking day can bring us.
I will be everything or no one. I will be that other who I am without knowing, the one who has looked upon that other dream: awakening. The one who judges, resigned and smiling.
Jorge Luis Borges
Translated from Spanish by Paul Weinfield, 2017
I have travelled much on this dream pilgrimage and I have seen much… I feel like I could write Borges very words Myself…
Do you consider yourself primarily a Poet? Do you write other stuff?
My Poetry is My first Love, but I am a Writer; Poetry really being a sub-category of Writing. I have such wide Interests… It is simply impossible for Me to write in just one style or genre or topic… There is simply too much to Observe and to Ponder on… And to write on…
Do you think that Poetry is still relevant in today’s society?
Yes, undoubtedly, it is still being written and read… and widely, just not in Western Countries. I did an Interview on The Weekend Show with African Independent Television recently, Saturday Morning, primetime, 20 million Viewers, and they had a dedicated Literature and Poetry Segment. It warmed My heart and was Beautiful to see.
The Question remains… why does Poetry persist… because it performs the essential function of letting The Heart speak… And, when The Heart speaks… The Word becomes alive in truth and in deed.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to start writing Poetry? 1) Just start… Not scribbling words onto a page… But inscribing your feelings raw and unfettered…
2) Poetry and Writing are a Craft… You may have raw talent and all the Life Experience in the World, yet you will still need to hone and polish your Craft. Write, Write, Write… but don’t push it… Creativity like everything else has its own natural ebb and Flow…
3) Success is the tip of an iceberg of intelligent and persistent effort. If you want to successfully complete anything, you will have to do the work; THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE. In the last two years, I have written for @13,000 hours, as example.
What is your process for writing a Poem?
I write about anything and everything. A writer’s license means nothing is stupid or taboo. So I use my wit and my license to explore and interrogate Our World. My Inspiration is not structured, however My Writing is. I use a 5-phase process…
1) I handwrite my ideas into a rough draft in notes
2) I handwrite a formal First Draft
3) I take some Time Out between First Draft phase and preparing Final Draft
4) I type up and save the Final Draft
5) I then handwrite a copy and sign it for My Records. (I remember seeing one of Jim Morrison’s early Poems at auction… It went for a lot.)
What Poetic Devices do you deploy in your Poetry?
Poetry to Me is the effective deployment of Informational and Emotional Content… For Me this is easy. It means being brutally honest with and about my Subject Matter. Truth is the most effective joiner of information and emotion.
How do you know when a Poem is finished?
This is a skill you learn as you develop and polish Your Craft. In my early days of writing, I was often stolid and verbose in style… But, after 13,000 hours, LoL, you kind of develop a repertoire with your own Style overtime.
What is the most important element of a good Poem?
1) Truth
2) Conciseness
I also like Poetry that steps outside poetic technical bounds.
Would you agree that Poetry is a much needed tool for Unity in Our World?
In a time of increasing conflict, instability and uncertainty… Look around and you see easily… Everywhere Life is harder, more dangerous, more costly, more risky… It has been very heartwarming for Me personally to witness Creatives and Creative Communities around the
World leading the chorus of reminding Our World of Our underlying Unity… Of Our History… Of Our shared Hope… Of Our Future…
Does your travelling experience influence your writing?
I am privileged and grateful to have been born in India and to have grown-up all around Our World… As a result I learned a deep and abiding Love for Our World in all its wondrous diversity… all of It… Every single part. So much of what I write reflects this…
What Themes of writing do you focus on?
I am The Founder of The MetaPhysical School. Well, actually the re-founder for the 21st Century, following in the giant footsteps of The Metaphysical Poets and Painters of History. Recent social changes and scientific developments have brought the essential Nature of Life and Our Universe again into general public concern and discourse. We The MetaPhysicals lead and chart this Revival and Renewal.
🌹✒️🌹✒️🌹✒️🌹✒️🌹✒️🌹✒️🌹✒️🌹✒️🌹✒️🌹✒️
*Interview By: Elizabeth O. Ogunmodede
