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Pathways
“Writing poetry is the air that I breathe” (Trevor Maynard, 22 Feb 22)
PATHWAYS is a journey into the poetic past of one the poetry booklets reproduced in this volume are those Trevor Maynard printed and sold prior to 1986; as such they represent his first works as a professional writer.
From the introduction to PATHWAYS, Trevor describes the volume in his own
“From a very early age imaginary friends, flights of fantasy, and yes, alright, some judicious white lies to my parents took hold. When I first began writing, these all took form in stories and poems. Ironic, of course, in a way, as I am quite dyslexic and find reading sleep-inducing and very difficult. However, writing, making it up as I go streams of consciousness, interpreting my teachers’ actions rather than reading what was on the blackboard, that I could do, and this unleashed my imagination.
My own neurodivergent interpretations of the world would become my pathway to living, coping, and existing in this world; and precisely because I am also dyslexic, naturally my pathway has led me to becoming a writer. This perceived disadvantage is, instead, my ‘superpower’, my brain interprets the world differently.
In 1980, while sitting for a physics exam, I noticed a dead moth on the windowsill. I wrote a poem about the experience. I did not pass that Physics exam. The poem, Me and the Moth, marked a turning point as it was the first time my need to write and share my work with the world took an intense hold on my life. It began a pathway; and from that repurposed physics exercise book, I progressed to typing, printing, publishing, and selling, my own poetry booklets.
In 1982, while working as a Civil Servant for Customs and Excise in Southend-on-Sea, I produced my first poetry booklet and sold it to my work colleagues for ten pence. In 1985, I returned to higher education, and read ‘A’ level English, Drama, and Film; I also wrote a play about a squid and a tuna surviving a nuclear war. In 1987 I went on to study Theatre Studies and Dramatic Art at Royal Holloway and Bedford New College (now Royal Holloway, University of London).
My pathway took me into writing plays; with twelve performed in London, Edinburgh, and touring. I have also published four collections of my own poetry. This pathway also took me into promoting and curating other poets’ and writers’ I have edited and published over 350 writers and poets in 17 international anthologies.
Meanwhile, hundreds more poems had remained in a box, and, approaching my sixtieth year, I have decided to release them. Maybe there are some gems, maybe a few are coal words flailing around seeking a poetic voice. However, each one represents a and each one is a little bit of truth, imagination, or flight of fantasy; even a judicious white lie, waiting to get out. They are my mark on the world, even if that world is mostly one of my own invention.
This retrospective book of poetry will be the first of many future pathways I will take, but the past is not my only path. I constantly write new work, writing poetry is the air I breath.”
Trevor Maynard is a poet, writer, and editor with over twenty publications to his name, including his latest poetry collection, PARADOX, and his latest work as editor, :Lockdown 2.022, which features 28 poets from across the world. Other notable works include The Poetic Bond Volumes I - X featuring 706 poems by 237 poets across ten volumes and FOUR TRUTHS, a collection of his one-act plays.
PATHWAYS is a journey into the poetic past of one the poetry booklets reproduced in this volume are those Trevor Maynard printed and sold prior to 1986; as such they represent his first works as a professional writer.
From the introduction to PATHWAYS, Trevor describes the volume in his own
“From a very early age imaginary friends, flights of fantasy, and yes, alright, some judicious white lies to my parents took hold. When I first began writing, these all took form in stories and poems. Ironic, of course, in a way, as I am quite dyslexic and find reading sleep-inducing and very difficult. However, writing, making it up as I go streams of consciousness, interpreting my teachers’ actions rather than reading what was on the blackboard, that I could do, and this unleashed my imagination.
My own neurodivergent interpretations of the world would become my pathway to living, coping, and existing in this world; and precisely because I am also dyslexic, naturally my pathway has led me to becoming a writer. This perceived disadvantage is, instead, my ‘superpower’, my brain interprets the world differently.
In 1980, while sitting for a physics exam, I noticed a dead moth on the windowsill. I wrote a poem about the experience. I did not pass that Physics exam. The poem, Me and the Moth, marked a turning point as it was the first time my need to write and share my work with the world took an intense hold on my life. It began a pathway; and from that repurposed physics exercise book, I progressed to typing, printing, publishing, and selling, my own poetry booklets.
In 1982, while working as a Civil Servant for Customs and Excise in Southend-on-Sea, I produced my first poetry booklet and sold it to my work colleagues for ten pence. In 1985, I returned to higher education, and read ‘A’ level English, Drama, and Film; I also wrote a play about a squid and a tuna surviving a nuclear war. In 1987 I went on to study Theatre Studies and Dramatic Art at Royal Holloway and Bedford New College (now Royal Holloway, University of London).
My pathway took me into writing plays; with twelve performed in London, Edinburgh, and touring. I have also published four collections of my own poetry. This pathway also took me into promoting and curating other poets’ and writers’ I have edited and published over 350 writers and poets in 17 international anthologies.
Meanwhile, hundreds more poems had remained in a box, and, approaching my sixtieth year, I have decided to release them. Maybe there are some gems, maybe a few are coal words flailing around seeking a poetic voice. However, each one represents a and each one is a little bit of truth, imagination, or flight of fantasy; even a judicious white lie, waiting to get out. They are my mark on the world, even if that world is mostly one of my own invention.
This retrospective book of poetry will be the first of many future pathways I will take, but the past is not my only path. I constantly write new work, writing poetry is the air I breath.”
Trevor Maynard is a poet, writer, and editor with over twenty publications to his name, including his latest poetry collection, PARADOX, and his latest work as editor, :Lockdown 2.022, which features 28 poets from across the world. Other notable works include The Poetic Bond Volumes I - X featuring 706 poems by 237 poets across ten volumes and FOUR TRUTHS, a collection of his one-act plays.
289 pages, Paperback
Published October 22, 2022
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