with Ivan Peledov:
Q1: When did you start writing and first influences?
Ivan: When I was about 17, perhaps. As far as I remember, my first influences were Osip Mandelstam, Nathanael West, Thomas Wolfe, Chuang Tzu, The Greek Anthology, classic haiku, Nikolai Gogol, various folk tales, the music of Alexander Scriabin, and the early German Expressionists.
Q2: Who are your biggest influences today?
Ivan: Everyone and everything.
Q3: Where did you grow up and how did that influence your writing & Have any travels away from home influence your work?
Ivan:
I grew up in the USSR, which taught me a couple of platitudes: that true socialism is either cruel or plain boring, but never fair and beautiful, and that you have to resist any influence from that sort of country, unless you have decided to become a totalitarian schmuck.
I love almost all the countries, states, cities, and towns I have had a chance to travel to. My favorite and most inspiring are Guatemala, Savannah, Providence, Buenos Aires, Paris, Jamaica, Memphis, Voronezh, Kyiv, Tbilisi, Konotop, Barcelona, New Mexico, Belgium, New England, Philadelphia, Costa Rica, etc.
Q4: What do you consider the most meaningful work you’ve done creatively so far?
Ivan: What I am doing right now is always the most meaningful, especially when I am not doing anything at all.
Q5: Any pivotal moment when you knew you wanted to be a writer/poet?
Ivan: This question makes me think whether I have ever really wanted to be a poet. As John the Apostle used to say, The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so do you have to be pigeonholed in order to catch it?
Q6: Favorite activities to relax?
Ivan: Listening to music, hiking, Tarot reading.
Q7: Any recent or forthcoming projects that you’d like to promote?
Ivan:
My book of poems titled “Habits of Totems” has been recently published by Impspired. Here are the links:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1914130170
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1914130170
Q8: What is a favorite line/stanza from a poem of yours or others? Favorite piece of art/photograph?
Ivan:
Art Alley, Rapid City, SD. The photo is mine, but I don’t know who did the graffiti.
Q9: Who has helped you most with writing?
Ivan: the Ghosts.
2 poems by Ivan Peledov : “Aside from the Flowers” & “Before and After”
Bio: Ivan Peledov lives in Colorado. His poems have been recently published in SORTES, Mad Swirl, Arc Magazine, and Angel Rust. He is the author of the book Habits of Totems (Impspired, 2021). He can be found online on Twitter @habitsoftotems or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ivan.peledov.
Fevers of the Mind 
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