KWEE Liberian Literary Magazine Jan. Iss. Vol. 0115 Apr Iss. Vol. 0415 | Page 13

Liberian Literary Magazine Author Interview 2 Spotlight Author RICHARD WILSON MOSS Liberian Literary Magazine conducted an interview with Richard Moss, a poet, a lover of nature and word; a cool guy . LLM: First, we would like to thank you for granting this interview. Let us kick off this interview with you telling us a little about yourself…. Tell us a little about yourself Well, I have written an entire book about myself, an autobiography, Northspur, and having written such, tend to tire of talking about my life anymore. However, I have lived a life of passion with interruptions of complete boredom and the necessity of supporting myself and my family. I dropped out of high Promoting Liberian literature, Arts and Culture school, joined the navy when 18, married at 19, and afterwards attended nearly two years of college, leaving that to help support and rear my two children. I have earned no certificates of education and pursued no true career. Nor did I chase traditional publication of my work. A lack of self confidence, which I yet continue to indulge, and distaste for the idea of competition in any of the arts, has prevented the entertaining of any of these common goals. I have worked untold menial jobs throughout my life to get by. Retired now, at 63, I live on social security and write constantly. Why writing? I have no idea. I wrote my first poem at age 12. From then on I found writing poetry satisfying and quite effortless at times. Everything else in life seemed much more difficult and troublesome. When writing poetry, I always felt unbothered, left alone, to explore this garden of Eden within oneself. Perhaps I write out of sheer laziness. 13 What books have most influenced your life or career most? Many, too many to mark here. Always favored George Orwell's' Down and Out in London and Paris and Henry Miller's 'Tropic of Capricorn.' Also Celine's 'Death on the Installment Plan'. Percy Shelley and TS Eliot are two of my favorite poets and have had great influence on my own work as well as the philosophy book of my father’s, 'The Second Book of Proverbs.' by Phillip Allen Moss Sr. How do you approach your work? There is no set approach. Things occur to me in the ongoing process of daily routine life and when allowed, I sit down and expound on these themes, or upon metaphors I discover that best express such themes. What themes do you find yourself continuously exploring in your work? The infinite most often undiscovered landscape of the human spirit. And its end.