Conor Mc Donnell on Letting the Reader Work

Poet and pediatric anesthesiologist Conor Mc Donnell joins the podcast to talk about how he lets his readers do the work when it comes to his poetry. Mc Donnell discusses how he balances writing with a demanding medical career, why his long poem "What We Know So Far" grew out of news headlines and medical language, and how wordplay, notebooks, and “accretive” composition shape his projects. Along the way they get into language as a virus (via Burroughs), the influence of David Lynch and M. John Harrison on narrative structure, the musicality of poetry (Joy Division, New Order, Smashing Pumpkins), and why writers should be willing to train and even lose some readers in order to reach the right ones. Find all of Conor's work at https://www.conorgmcdonnell.com/ Pick up Jonathan's latest work, ⁠⁠⁠⁠The Eye Collector from Image Comics⁠⁠⁠⁠ at your local comic shop, or ⁠⁠⁠⁠online⁠⁠⁠⁠. Join Jonathan's Patreon page for free at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠staystrange.ca⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Subscribe to the Stranger Fiction YouTube channel at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠strangertv.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Purchase books & comics available from Stranger Fiction at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠strangerfiction.ca⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Watch The Princess and the Dragon ⁠⁠on Apple TV⁠⁠.