NOTE:
A first for The IndieView. Today we’re featuring a BookView with the author discussion two of his books in one interview. These are both poetry books, one called War and Other Inconveniences (War for short in his interview answers) and Poetry Without Borders (Borders for short).
. I am not opposed to joy, but I would rather walk in the truthful dark than in a false light.
Trevor W. Harrison – 14 January 2026
The Back Flap
War is a very political book in the vein of W. H. Auden, James Baldwin, and Maya Angelou. The book tackles real issues facing humanity in the twenty-first century, including war, climate change, and disease.
Borders is book that veers often nostalgically, over many countries and periods, focusing on love, loss, and memory.
About the book
What is the book about?
War: This collection brings together several poems written since 2020 with five of older origin. Together, the poems deal with the growing dystopian elements of our age. War, threats of war, our collective apathy, and its consequences take centre stage. But war also shares the stage with other threats—climate change, pestilence, oligarchic power, and right-wing authoritarianism. A warning to the reader: these poems bend toward the dark and somber. I am not opposed to joy, but I would rather walk in the truthful dark than in a false light.
Borders: The poems presented here fall into five parts. Part one features a selection of poems that were lost, or at least overlooked, when I published a collection of poetry in 2016. Part two involves several rhyming entries. Part three is given over wholly to nostalgia. By contrast, part four deals with nature, people I’ve known, and the end of my career as a professor. The final part deals with my spiritual home, Greece, and the tragedies and joys it has endured over many decades.
When did you start writing the book?
Five of the poems in War were written many years ago and previously published. But the vast majority of other poems were written since 2020.
The poems in Borders were written over the course of the past sixty years, but most in the ten years since 2016.
How long did it take you to write it?
War came together very quickly. Many of the poems were written in a day or so.
Borders came together in a different fashion because so many had been written in past decades. Still, the actual production of the book – decisions around which poems to include, or make minor changes – also occurred quickly.
Where did you get the idea from?
War is a product of our troubled times, politically, economically, and culturally. The ideas came out reading or watching the daily news and discussions with others.
Borders arose out of a more personal, deep introspection regarding my life’s experiences and relationships with others.
Were there any parts of the book where you struggled?
I can truly say about both books that my major struggle is always to find the write word or words. This sometimes means revisions even down to the last second with some of the poems.
What came easily?
War was probably the easiest of the two books as it arose out a deep anger and concern about the state of the world
But Borders also came easy at points as I gave way to a lighter, even humorous tone – very different from War.
Are your characters entirely fictitious or have you borrowed from real world people you know?
Some of the characters in the poems are well known. Nothing was fictionalized in either book.
Do you have a target reader for this book?
Intelligent, thoughtful readers of any age, gender, or nationality.
How was writing this book different from what you’d experienced writing previous books?
I self-published another poetry book in 2015. Some of the poems contained in that book appear slightly revised in War. The main difference between the 2015 book and the current ones is that I think my writing has become clearer and more precise – as Esra Pound said, “hard as stone and white as bone.”
What new things did you learn about writing, publishing, and/or yourself while writing and preparing this book for publication?
I am always learning something about writing. I have discovered anew how difficult it is to publish poetry. It is a small market cluttered with many good authors.
End of Interview:
Get your copy of War and Other Inconveniences from Amazon US or Amazon UK.
Once you’ve done that you should also get your copy of Poetry Without Borders, also available from Amazon US or Amazon UK.
