Q1: When did you start writing and whom influenced you the most now and currently?
Merritt: I began writing poetry at 12. I wrote tiny stories and drew since i was 3 or 4. Back then there were two major influences. Li Po and Baudelaire.
Q2: Any pivotal moment when you knew you wanted to be a writer?
Merritt: Since then and now the biggest influence on my idea of writing has always been John Keats .
The pivotal moment I knew I WANTED or was a writer was when I read the entire portable Whitman reader in a hay field next my house when I was 7. I got in trouble because I slept in between bails for two days no one knew where I was
Q3: Who has helped you most with writing and career?
Merritt: The people that has helped me writing over The years the most Summer Dawn Bill Shields Daniel Yaryan Nancy Patrice Davenport Thomas Lyle Bush Thom Woodruff Tony Campbell Dr. J.C. Bacala .. This answers the main question. Of course there are others more recent. As well.
Q4: Where did you grow up and how did that influence you? Have any travels influenced your work?
Merritt: I grew up in Madison Indiana next to the Ohio river in the country. It influenced me as a writer by turning poetry in to a.more spiritual entity than a utility of expression. Backpacking all over the western hemisphere has deeply influenced the writing.
Q5: What do you consider your most meaningful work creatively to you?
Merritt: Most meaningful creative work. I’ll have to think on that.
Q6: Favorite activities to relax?
Merritt: Drinking reading hiking hacky sack chess reading Music listening singing along
Q7: What is a favorite line/ stanza/lyric from your writing?
Merritt: Going down chiseling my own tombstone Out of these bones.
Q8:What kind of music inspires you the most? What is a song or song that always come back to you as an inspiration?
Merritt: Blues . rock. Really jam while I write. Love all music. One song. Change by blind melon
Q9: Do you have any recent or upcoming books, music, events, etc that you would like to promote?
Merritt: I’m planning a poetry event called Poet-loose on October 9th at 4 p.m. in Scottsburg Indiana
Bonus Question: Any funny memory or strange occurrence you’d like to share during your creative journey?
Merritt: Being a child of agent orange
Merritt bio & links:
I’m 48. Born 1974 Madison. Live in Scottsburg . published books and online and in anthologies. I am living the poetic I am.
Collaboration poem from Merritt Waldon & David L O’Nan
July 2022 Poetry Showcase from Merritt Waldon
Poems by Merritt Waldon: Strange Visitations & more poems for people
https://dumpsterfirepress.com/2022/08/24/voices-from-the-fire-merritt-waldon-8/
https://brooklynrail.org/contributor/Merritt-Waldon
Fevers of the Mind 