conversations,modernly.

today at MS we sat down with poet William Carlos Williams poet who is a physician as well.
we got to speak with him briefly about his life and his works.


a little overview of Williams , 
williams was born in Rutherford, New Jersey, a community near the city of Paterson.His father, William George Williams was an immigrant, and his mother, Raquel Monsantos was born in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. He attended a public school in Rutherford until 1896, then was sent to study at Château de Lancy near Geneva, Switzerland, the Lycée Condorcet in Paris, France, for two years and Horace Mann School in New York City.in 1906  he spent the next four years in internships in New York City and in travel and postgraduate studies abroad  at the University of Leipzig where he studied pediatrics.






MS: hello Dr.Williams , how are you today?


Williams:quite fine,thank you.


MS:what started your passion for poetry being that you are in the medical field?


Williams:well i am friends with various artists,authors,and poets through them i learned and understood the true passion of poetry.


MS:interesting.what was your first peice of work and do you remember?


Williams:of course! what writer or anyone in their respectful field of work forget their first time doing something that they learn or studied and loved to do, it was called "Between Walls" I beileve published in 1916.the poem was connected to my work in the hospital and described it in a somewhat vague way. i tried to be as simple but thought provoking as possible since it was my first peice of work.


MS:that is great,the poem here is a team favorite.Do you consider yourself a modernist poet or somewhat of a realist ?


Williams:I beileve you can say that, I try to connect my life experiences to my poems to make them as real for when you read them you can also imagine and realize. I want my readers to know that I do not write simply because I can but , because I love to do it.


MS:We also understand that you wrote a host of short stories , plays and autobiographies etcetera.How did you find time to juggle two extremely demanding careers?


Williams:yes,that is correct. I don't always consider my careers as jobs, its what i do on my spare time,both the medical and writing side. I do not think that I would eventually choose one over the other because they both satisify me.


MS:Are you a big fan of the literature used in other modernist works?




Williams: I wouldn't exactly call myself a big fan,but i do not use it in my work, as far as the classical examples and usage of foreign languages.I use what I call "The Local" meaning that I use and cite examples from the things happening and evolving around me. I dont want to define myself as a classical writer,I feel that i am a more timeless write , not to boast or brag , but i do want my work to be remembered for years to come.




MS:very well, did you beileve that you would garner the success that you did for the "The Red Wheelbarrow"?


Williams:Well, i did have a bit of faith , but you can never be too sure about how someone else views your work from their point of view. I wanted to write about the current times and connect my writings as a purely American experience. I do not like to write about the same thing , time and time again. its okay to change up sometimes.




MS:How do you use your experiences to help connect to the young writers you mentored and possibly others you may have influence that you haven't tutored ?


Williams:I Encouraged them to be as real as possible and write what they felt and connect to soicety and life and what they do. I don't always approve of the forms that some might write in, but I do beileve that every has a voice and want to persue a career in writing. its a truly beautiful thing.




MS:that it is , thank you Mr.Williams for allowing us a peice of your valued time to sit down and talk with us and it is greatly appericated and we here at MS wish success with the continuation of your careers.




Williams:Thank you for asking me too,and same to you as well. keep on writing !






there you have it modernists,one of the greats.
we hoped you have enjoyed reading the interview and if you want to know more about William Carlos Williams click on the link below.


click here.


enjoy.


-the MS team.