Prof. Muldoon on Joyce and Stones

As part of a new series, the 'Prince' will feature interviews with prominent people on campus. Pulitzer Prizewinning creative writing professor Paul Muldoon is one of today's features.

Prince: What is your favorite food?

Muldoon: Heavens above! Well, sushi is up there . . . I also like South American cuisine such as various ceviches. I like fish, especially when prepared at Le Bermardin in New York...its somewhere in the upper west side, there. I also enjoy cooking.

P: What one book do you think everyone would benefit from reading?

M: Ulysses by James Joyce. Its one of the key books of the 20th century. It has such a broad canvas, and the characters are so wonderfully . . . the writing is magnificent. That's one that I think is really required reading for anyone at all who is interested in writing prose.

P: What one piece of music do you think everyone would benefit from listening to?

M: Well heavens . . . off the top of my head . . . "You Can't Always Get What you Want," by the Rolling Stones, which my son sings to me. Largely because he can't always get what he wants at the age of four. But I'm actually more interested in rock music than classical music.

P: What is your favorite way to relax?

M: I like to make a few noises, myself, on the guitar. And I enjoy shopping. Grocery shopping. When I finish teaching here, I go down to McCaffrey's and I shop.

P: What word or phrase are you most guilty of overusing?

M: I think something like "can you believe that?"

P: What is your favorite slang word or phrase?

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M: I can't think of one, its dreadful! My own name contributed to a bit of thing. Which is that a version of my name backwards became the word hoodlum, which was used first in 1873 in San Francisco. So I always feel as if I'm . . . oh that's kind of feeble!

P: What is your favorite bookstore?

M: Well I'd have to say Micawber's!

P: What is the best piece of advice you've ever been given?

M: I think "don't count your chickens before they hatch."

P: If there were a ballot for sainthood, which person, living or dead, would you nominate?

M: Well I think there are so many unsung people who do great work in the world, you know? There are a number of organizations to which I belong that do extraordinary work. I would say Amnesty International, that's one of them, that attempts to keep an eye on various abuses of power around the world. I think the American union for Civil Liberties. So sainthood? the unsung heroes.

P: What did you think you'd most likely major in when you entered college, and what did you ultimately major in?

M: I thought I would major in English and I majored in English. Very dreary! It didn't really seem to matter much, in the late sixties.

P: What sorts of occupations other than the one you have now do you think you'd be best suited for?

M: Oh, I think night watchman might be good. Except that I can't stay up at night! The fact is I've had very busy jobs for all of my life. I worked in radio and television for a long time as a producer. But, I enjoy teaching. I enjoy the academic life. It's exhausting . . . but it's just such fun! Privilege, basically. But I think I would maybe be a night watchman just because it's a bit of peace and quiet.

P: Did you consider yourself a reckless teen?

M: No, unfortunately! I was a bit more reckless in my twenties. I think recklessness belongs to the teenage years and is in a way, to be condoned! Its better to be reckless in your teens than in your thirties!

P: What is your clearest memory?

M: Almost drowning as a kid. I fell out of a little boat and was underneath it for a while, and I'm really afraid of water.

P: If you could be transported back to any decade in the 20th century, which would it be?

M: Well I don't need be to transported back to any decade! I permanently live in the sixties. That's where I am.

P: What is a childhood dream that you have gotten to live out?

M: Having a bow and arrow. I don't take potshots at deer, or anything.

P: What is a childhood dream that you haven't?

M: I suppose . . . having the opportunity to use a bow and arrow with more abandon!

P: What question would you like to ask every person that you meet? It would be, "do you realize that we're all related?"

M: If we started the day with that quote, which of course we are . . . all related, I think the world would be in better shape. Seriously! I mean think about it, we all evolved from a band of about eight or ten people. Its at once humbling and . . . it has in it the seed of delight in being here.

P: When did you last write a letter by hand?

A couple of days ago.

P: What is something surprising about yourself that the world doesn't know, but should?

M: I'm not sure its anything that anyone would be interested in! Off the top of my head . . . well something that surprises myself, I must say, but not the society that I came from, is that for a while I thought of being a priest. That surprises me.

P: Do you curse frequently/when do you curse?

M: I curse quite infrequently, I must say. Four letter words I use . . . not so much. My wife has just broken her toe, so I'll have to check in with her about what she said, and then align myself with that.

P: Do you have any unusual eating habits/generally quirky habits?

M: They don't seem quirky to me. But I do like beet roots. Beets . . . does that seem quirky? A lot of people don't like beets, but I love beets. I could live off beets. If somebody would make beet ice cream, I'd be very happy.

P: What topic could you discuss for the longest period of time?

M: I suppose it would have to be something to do with poetry. That is the topic that fascinates me most. So that's what I'm meant to be doing!

P: What causes you to get visibly emotional?

M: I do get a little bit upset by certain aspects of politics. Let's not even discuss the American situation . . . but I think in the UK, their aspects are difficult.

P: What is your deepest held conviction?

M: I suppose in many ways, my deepest held conviction is that we are leading a . . . I'm very taken by the notion that as members of the human race, we are here essentially to continue the human race. That we are vehicles of DNA. That's why I like art. The great artists are vehicles . . . for something beyond themselves which comes into being through them, through the medium of their personalities. So to sum up, its how unimportant we are.

P: Who do you consider to have been your most significant mentor? M: There are several great teachers that I've had. In grammar school . . . who were wonderful. English teachers. As far as the single most important mentor, it was Seamus Heaney. He was also my teacher as a teenager . . . he was very good to me. So if you think about it, teaching is such a responsible role . . . its terrifying!

P: What is happiness?

M: Well it sounds corny, but having your children say they love you.

P: What is the coolest thing you know (that everyone else should know, too)?

M: I think the coolest thing I know is that I know almost nothing, really. And I think in terms of education, I think the coolest thing to know is that you don't have to know everything. All you have to know is how to find out the answer to whatever it is that you don't know. I think that's what an education is about.