Odds and Ends Essays, Blogs, Internet Discussions, Interviews and Miscellany

Jeffrey Side: I only edit online material but have been involved with print editing in the past, mainly with The
Argotist magazine in the 1990s. The differences between the two are that with online publications you don’t have all
the hassles of having to do print runs, finding distribution networks, finding retail outlets and finding the funding for
all of these things. This has made online publishing a more inexpensive and efficient delivery system for publications
than would be the case using the infrastructures available for printed matter.
Also, online publications are always ubiquitous in a way that print ones can never be. Which is to say, that people
surfing the Internet are always, by the second (and no doubt simultaneously), coming across online publications
whether by accident or design.
Anny Ballardini: With the general economic crisis that has hit not only the U.S.A., what is your forecast on the future
of the book?
Jeffrey Side: I think the future of printed books will be that they will still be available but for mainly archival
purposes, and for collectors of beautiful objects. There may also be a market for them as gifts for special occasions
such as weddings, christenings and other rights of passage celebrations. But as a utility, printed books will be used
rarely when devises such as Kindle become as ubiquitous and as affordable as digital wristwatches.
Anny Ballardini: Where does your work lie?
Jeffrey Side: I have no sense of my work. I just do what needs doing, when time permits.
Interview with Paul Brookes of Wombwell Rainbow
January 2019
Paul Brookes: When and why did you begin to write poetry?
Jeffrey Side: I started writing poetry in 1990, after being introduced to Bob Dylan’s songs by someone. I was taken
by Dylan’s use of words and rhyme, and his ability to make his songs personally significant and relatable to
experiences in my life with an uncanny accuracy. I thought this was a wonderful gift to have, and wished that I had it.
But not having any ability to write songs, I thought I’d try writing poetry instead.
Paul Brookes: Who introduced you to poetry?
Jeffrey Side: Apart from the person who introduced me to Bob Dylan’s songs, there was no one else. After hearing
Dylan’s songs, I began to read (and read about) poetry on my own initiative. This led me to want to study it formally
at university, which I later did.
Paul Brookes: How aware were and are you of the dominating presence of older poets?
Jeffrey Side: When I started writing poetry in 1990, I was only aware of two older poets who had a dominating
presence. The first was Seamus Heaney, whose presence and influence was widespread in British mainstream poetry.
The second was John Ashbery, whose presence and influence was widespread in American avantgarde poetry.
Paul Brookes: What is your daily writing routine?
Jeffrey Side: I don’t have one. I tend to operate on impulse and spontaneity when it comes to writing poems. I do,
though, jot down phrases that come to me every so often, and file them away for possible later use when writing a
poem.
Paul Brookes: What motivates you to write?
Jeffrey Side: I think what motivates me, is a hope to connect with people. To write poems that hopefully people will
find personally significant and relatable to experiences in their lives, as Bob Dylan’s songs are for me.
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