Dawn Major Digs Deep With Raymond L. Atkins

Dawn Major Digs Deep With Raymond L. Atkins

Award-winning American author, Raymond Atkins, hardly needs an introduction. But for the sake of propriety and for readers just now coming into the fold called WELL READ Magazine, he’s written: Set List, Sorrow Wood, Sweetwater Blues, Front Porch Prophet, South of the Etowah, and Camp Redemption) six novels and an essay collection that range from Southern fiction to Speculative to Mystery and all with an Atkinsian satirical flair.

Fans of WELL READ know him for his column, “OFF THE PAGE,” where Atkins humorously comments on the idiosyncrasies of the American South, the rollercoaster world called writing, his Republican cat, Jake, and the deck that he started building during the pandemic I’ve aptly named the second Tower of Babel.

What some may not know is that after publishing Set List, Ray expressed to me that he was finito, finished! Done with the BS. Let me say to you that this was right after I graduated with my MFA degree in Creative Writing where Ray was my instructor and mentor. He’d spent nearly two years mentoring me through my novel, The Bystanders, and God bless him another novel I threw into the mix for shits and giggles, but mostly because I was doubting my work on The Bystanders. Anyway, I could hardly believe the words coming out of his mouth. This was Ray. Not him! Not Ray! Mind you, I was still on cloud nine. Since then, I’ve cursed the gods numerous times for the affliction that causes this intense desire to write, and Ray has listened to my potty-mouthed rants. He has literally talked me off the ledge.

Let me backtrack a bit. I met Mandy Haynes, author, editor, and creator of WELL READ who asked me to consider taking over “OFF THE PAGE” which River Jordan had been writing at the time. I said, “yes,” and then got nervous about the commitment, and started talking about how Ray was making this outlandish claim that he was done with writing. We concluded Ray and I would split the column, and then I had to back out because I had too much on my plate. That’s the trickery that got Ray back to where he belongs—writing. Plus, he kept writing these prolific FB posts which suggested he wasn’t ready to put a lid on it. So, a bit of witchcraft there and we’re all good.

This brings me to something that may surprise some folks. Ray had been tinkering on a collection of poetry inspired by cemeteries. Reflecting on these comments, perhaps this was a cry for help. He was done with writing and hanging out in graveyards! Whoa, dude.

Nah, he’s just a cemetery guy who needed a new direction with his craft and that’s exactly what he did. He dug up the graveyard. He grieved and partied with the dead and he wrote a damn fine collection called They All Rest in the Boneyard Now and other Poems.And on top of that he collaborated with someone I count as a dear friend, Evelyn Mayton, who illustrated the interior images. Y’all are in for a treat!!

Now to the interview…

Ray, after authoring a zillion novels you are just now revealing to your fans/readers that poetry was your first love? What made you finally come out of the closet and why have you been hiding in it for so long?

Well, I will admit that this collection is a departure for me. Those of you familiar with my work know that I am primarily a novelist and sometime essayist, but the truth is that I have always been a secret poet. My mentor at an early stage of my literary development was one of my English professors, Kenneth Anderson. He was a poet as well as an educator, and he has just published a new collection of his own, The Goose Liver Anthology. Thus it was not surprising that he encouraged me to follow the path of verse. My first sojourn into creative writing came during my undergraduate years in the late seventies and early eighties, and the initial medium I chose was poetry, although I later gave the genre up in favor of the novel. I found, as Robert Penn Warren once did, that “poems eat novels.”Also, and I can’t stress this enough, I was at that time perhaps the world’s worst poet. Lately, though, I have gotten better.

I also want to take a moment for a shout-out to my awesome illustrator, Evelyn Mayton. She took a stack of photos that were never meant for anyone but me—a couple of them actually have a thumb in them—and with her keen eye turned them into images that augment and enhance the poetry. She is a true artist.

Let’s talk about how badass the cover art is. Do you worry you’ve pissed off the Grim Reaper by beating him/her to the punchline? I mean ya went there! Please divulge how that cover came about.

The cover was designed by Mandy Haynes. It is based on the emoji she sends to me every month around the 25th or so when I haven’t gotten my column in yet. Okay I’m just kidding with that one. Mandy is a true Renaissance woman with many talents, and when she showed me what she had in mind for the cover, I knew she had designed the perfect one. She also formatted and edited the book. If any of our readers are ever in need of these types of services, I can’t recommend her enough.

You’ve obviously spent your fair time in cemeteries since most of the poems are inspired by those who once walked our Earth. Since waking the dead, have you been visited by any ghosts or spirits? Any odd experiences you’d like to relate to our WELLREAD readers?

I think I must be a bit doltish when it comes to paranormal occurrences, because in my life thus far I have never experienced one. But I do believe they exist! My house was built in 1890, and we have a ghost. I have never seen him, but each of my family members has at one time or another. He is a little boy who looks to be about ten or so. He wears circa 1900 clothing and spends most of his time standing by the front door, as if he is waiting for someone to let him out. Come to think of it, though, no one has seen him in a while. Perhaps he finally found his way home.

Since becoming a poet, how many jaunty scarves and berets do you now own?

Three and two respectively. Oh, and don’t forget my poet’s jacket. It has a nice inside pocket just perfect for my absinthe.

Here’s one mandatory question. Who are your go-to poets?

I like accessible, down-to-earth poetry. Sylvia Plath is a perennial favorite of mine, and she is one of the poets I insist that my students all read. Lady Lazarus is my favorite of her poems. Wallace Stevens was another great poet, and Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird may be the world’s most perfect poem. I also like Billy Collins (The Trouble With Poetry), Elizabeth Bishop (The Fish), EdgarAllan Poe (Annabel Lee).

I see you went with Republican Cat Press. How is Jake taking the fame?

Well, he loved his moment in the sun, and I confess that I haven’t yet broken the news to him that I decided at the last minute that Etowah River Press would be a more acceptable name for my imprint. Luckily he can’t read, so if you don’t tell him, he will never know.

And of course, you should now spill the beans on your next project.

Now I am back to writing my novel-in-progress, tentatively titled Pearl’s Century. It is the story of a woman who was born on 1/1/1900 and passed away on 12/31/ 1999, and of all the happiness and sorrow she encountered between those two notable dates.

Thanks for playing along with this interview and for being my pal. On behalf of myself and WELLREAD, congratulations on your collection. We wish the very best for you!

Dawn Major is the author of The Bystanders and the Associate Editor at Southern Literary Review. She received MFA in creative writing from the Etowah Valley Program. In 2019, she was awarded the Dr. Robert Driscoll Award as well as Reinhardt University’s Faculty Choice Award, both in Excellence in Writing. In 2018, she awarded the James Dickey Review Literary Editor Fellowship. Her publications may be found in: The Atlanta Journal Constitution, WELL READ Magazine, Heavy Feather Review, Southern Literary Review, Georgia Gothic Anthology, Springer Mountain Press, Elder Mountain: A Journal of Ozark Studies, Five Points, amongst many others. Major is a member of the William Gay Archive and has helps edit and publish the late author’s works. She also advocates for southern authors on her blog SouthernRead. She lives in Atlanta, GA with her family.