Lawrence Moore: "Each of us has one precious, fleeting moment upon this planet"
- samszanto2
- 3 days ago
- 5 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
A chat with Lawrence Moore about his poetry collection, This Joyful Interlude (Jane’s Studio Press, 2025)
How would you describe This Joyful Interlude in one sentence?
Aha, I have a ready-made answer for this one! Here’s the one sentence description I gave to my publisher Jane Cornwell, when I pitched the book to her.
‘Pasted against the nebulous backdrops of doubt and passing time, This Joyful Interlude assembles a delicate collage of hopes and romantic longings.’
How did you come up with the title?
I struggle to remember how specifically. I know various reasons why I chose it. While I have always gone for quite short, punchy book titles and appreciated the multiple interpretations This Joyful Interlude was open to, I particularly liked this title as a recognition that each of us has one precious, fleeting moment upon this planet. From the first poem, 'Mulch', there is nostalgia for the present, in the knowledge that it cannot last.
What was the inspiration for the book?
In 2023, my husband Matt and I had what in many ways was a pretty rubbish year. I had five months of sciatica and at times found myself having to pause during walks because it was too painful to continue.
That cleared up, but then Matt had pneumonia, a recurrence of severe depression and, finally, emergency gall bladder surgery. Around the time of his two hospital stays, I was writing poems like ‘Brave Little Bricks’ and ‘When Sunshine Returns at Last’ and I think, at that embryonic stage of the project, real life events led me down a slightly darker path than I took for my first two books.
Love and nature were also never far from my thoughts.
The cover design is beautiful, can you tell us how that came about?
Jane asked if I had any cover ideas and I mentioned a line from ‘Pain Relief Cassette’:
‘rose gardens thrive on crumbling catacombs’. From there, she came up with this gorgeous cover, full of vibrancy. She also put forward a couple of other designs later on, but I assured her this was definitely the one.
How did you structure the pieces?
With This Joyful Interlude and The Breadcrumb Trail, I waited until a had about fifteen to twenty poems I really liked, then arranged them into a story arc. The order of those poems changed little from there, with new poems supplementing the narrative as the book matured.
Like its predecessor, the heart and soul of This Joyful Interlude lies in its first half while the ‘crowd pleasers’ cluster later on.
How does form interact with content in the book?
Good question…hmm… Years ago, my Mum - a lapsed poet - suggested the line break before the last line of ‘Mulch’, and it helped awaken me to the importance of line breaks in general. The free verse poems in the book tend to feature very short lines and I think that helps the words to cascade. In ‘Balloon Ride’, this gives the sensation of the narrator leaving his conscious thoughts behind and living in the now. My obsession with anapaests is also conducive to the musicality I was seeking.
I was intrigued by the fact that some of the language and syntax are of a past era – words like ‘’neath’ and ‘’tween’. I wonder if you could talk about why you use this style of writing in some of the poems?
As hinted at in the answer above, a poem’s flow is of huge importance to me.
Often, a poem feels like a puzzle, where I need to express myself within the structure I have chosen. When I wished to convey ‘beneath’ or ‘between’ in a one syllable space, ‘neath’ an ‘tween’, became prime candidates. I did pause to think when I made ‘thee’ the final word of the collection, but I don’t want to be discouraged by the term archaic when these words remain easy for the modern reader to comprehend.
How did you decide on a publisher?
This is the second time I have worked with Jane. After an incredible experience the first time around, it was a simple decision to make. She has a fantastic grasp of what her writers are hoping to achieve and manages to blend our vision with her own, lending each project a truly collaborative vibe.
How long did the book take to write?
‘Mulch’ aside, it was written in a two year period from Summer 2023 to Summer 2025.
Which poets inspire your work?
I don’t read as many poetry books as I should. I was attracted to the sensation of effortlessness I felt when reading Samantha Terrell’s brilliant On the Wing. I enjoy Steve Denehan’s gentle, wry, self-effacing style and like to think my poem ‘Skimming’ bears a modest resemblance to his work. I got my love of sonnets from Kristin Garth.
What’s your writing process? i.e., do you work at a particular time of day / in a particular place? Do you need silence or can you work in a café?
I work in my upstairs study, usually with ear plugs, noise cancelling headphones and Matt keeping the volume to a minimum downstairs. I wouldn’t enjoy hearing other words coming at me while I’m trying to think of my own.
I write primarily between 10pm and 1am, but quite often get a window of opportunity after lunch, too.
You start the collection with a very short (and beautiful) poem, ‘Mulch’. I find it difficult to write short poems and admire those who can. I wonder how you know whether a poem will become long or when a short form suits it best?
I still get a little nervous about where my next finished poem is coming from, so if I see a clear landing point in a piece, I usually take it. Presumably, this lessens the chances of my poems being overblown. Sometimes, however, there’s a lot that needs saying and I know I’m going to be bothering the second page.
How is the book similar or different to what you’ve written before?
My style of poetry is recognisable across all three books. Musicality and romance are always present and I don’t see this changing.
The Joyful Interlude feels the most risky enterprise to me, with the rawness and angst on display in its first half, but I believe the experience remains an emotionally positive one, both for the reader and for myself.
Have you any readings or other events planned to promote the book?
We’re having a zoom launch party on 20th November, 7pm GMT with free tickets on Eventbrite.
I’ve done an Eat the Storms recording, which I’ll be sending in shortly and I might make it to a few other zoom events – there’s always something going on in this community!
I also have the Pompey Poetry Party happening monthly in my city. I’ve read at the local poetry group, but never done open open-mic, so there’s a challenge for me to take, or maybe duck 😊
This Joyful Interlude launch party:
Buy This Joyful Interlude here:
Lawrence Moore’s Amazon Author Page:
Comments