P.T. Paul received her B.A. in English from the University of Montevallo in 2007, and her M.A. in Creative Writing from the University of South Alabama in 2009.
Her thesis, “Southerner” was chosen to represent the College of Arts and Sciences of the University of South Alabama in the CSGS Master’s Thesis Award Competition and was published as “To Live & Write in Dixie” by Negative Capability Press in 2010. P.T. is President of the Pensters Writing Group, which is celebrating its 45th year on the Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay, is a member of the International English Honor Society Sigma Tau Delta, and is Eastern Shore Coordinator for Region One Coordinator Dr. Sue Brannon Walker, Poet Laureate of the State of Alabama, with the Poetry Out Loud Program for high school students. She is also a member of the Alabama State Poetry Society and the Alabama Writers Forum. P.T. has been published in the Oxford American magazine, the Birmingham Arts Journal, the Austin International Poetry Festival anthology, the Limestone Dust Poetry Festival anthology, the Tower, and other publications, and has won numerous scholarships and prizes for both poetry and prose.
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P. T. Paul interview with Meg Tuite
Anything you want to share with our readers about the inspiration for this story?
Perhaps there’s no truer way to tell if you’re a poet or fiction writer than your response to Critical Theory class final paper assignments. By the middle of the semester, my mind was sore from juggling the various theories put forth by Barthes, Poulet, Foucault, et al, and I was dreaming that I had fallen down a rabbit hole into a world where books were alternately carnivorous, made of chocolate, or actual latent paper and ink Frankensteins awaiting the spark of the reader’s imagination. Thankfully, my professor had a sense of humor, or I might still be in graduate school.
Do you have a specific writing schedule that you adhere to and/or any tricks that help you, that might useful to our readers?
A long time ago, I gave my inner child permission to address all issues creative, and to let me know when my conscious participation was required. I have difficulty adhering to any sort of schedule, and if I knew any tricks I would be traveling with the circus right now.
What are you reading at this time?
At the moment, I am reading “blink” by Malcolm Gladwell, “Poets on Teaching” edited by Joshua Marie Wilkinson, the latest edition of “Writers Digest,” and am looking longingly at “Geek Love” by Katherine Dunn, but if I have to stop and look up a word, I will be lost in the Oxford English Dictionary until someone realizes I am missing.
Name the top two or three most influential writers in your reading life and maybe a note on why.
William Shakespeare for introducing me to word constructs. (I was only ten – it blew my mind.) Isaac Asimov for pointing out where Shakespeare got it wrong. Lillian Smith for explaining to me why Southerners are schizophrenic. Piers Anthony for creating one of the most innocuous monsters ever conceived. James Dickey for showing me that a poet can write damn fine prose.
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In order to preserve the artistic arrangement of the writing, this piece has been created with Print2Flash Flashpaper.