First Draft: A Dialogue of Writing is a weekly show featuring in-depth interviews with fiction, nonfiction, essay writers, and poets, highlighting the voices of writers as they discuss their work, their craft, and the literary arts. Hosted by Mitzi Rapkin, First Draft celebrates creative writing and the individuals who are dedicated to bringing their carefully chosen words to print as well as the impact writers have on the world we live in.

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In this episode, Mitzi talks to Alan Shapiro about his new essay collection, A Dress Rehearsal for the Truth.

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From the episode:

Mitzi Rapkin: So you say in an essay that inspiration is something you’re only aware of after the fact. I know we are talking about form, but we’re also talking about content. So, can you talk more about that?

Alan Shapiro: If I’m thinking while I’m writing that, whoa, this is really good, you know?  It’s probably not very good at all, you know, because if I’m thinking it’s really good, I’m thinking of other people looking at it and seeing it, responding to it and commenting on it. And if I’ve got one eye on the audience, when I’m so called inspired, then I’m probably not inspired. I’m probably just wishing I were and because if you’re really inspired, you’re just doing what you’re doing, and you’re not thinking about anything else, you know, and it’s always retrospective for me, it’s always after the fact. That’s about as much as I can say about it. This is the problem with teaching writing. You know, you can only teach what you can talk about. You can’t teach what you can’t talk about. And inspiration is one of those things that you can’t.  I can’t teach inspiration, and it’s never been taught to me, you know, it’s just something you’ve either had or you didn’t have. But it’s again for me, it’s always after the fact. It’s always after.  I never know whether I’ve had a really interesting dream or not, until after I’ve woken up, you know, and then, oh, wow, that was something, that was interesting, but it’s already gone by then. But are you aware that you’re dreaming most of the time? No, you’re not.

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Alan Shapiro was born in Boston, Massachusetts and graduated from Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. Shapiro has published fourteen poetry collections, including A Dress Rehearsal for the Truth; By and By; Life Pig; Reel to Reel; Night of the Republic, a finalist for the 2013 Griffin Poetry Prize and the National Book Award; and Old War, winner of the Ambassador Book Award.