#44 Liam Bates, poet

'I can’t seem to do anything good after about 2 in the afternoon'

Liam Bates is a poet living in Lancashire who won a Northern Writers’ Award for Poetry in 2023 for ongoing work. His poems have appeared in publications including Under the Radar, Bath Magg, and Abridged. They have been commended or shortlisted in competitions by Magma, Bridport Prize, Creative Future, longlisted in the National Poetry Competition, and have been translated into Spanish and Latvian. His first two pamphlets are available from Broken Sleep Books, along with his full-length debut, Human Townsperson. You can also find him on @liambatespoet across social media channels.

Where do you write?
I write on the sofa often, though I really shouldn’t, as it’s not good for my back or writing. Our two guinea pigs are in this room, and the desk is in another, so how could I deny them my company? (They are mostly indifferent).

What can we always find on your desk?
When I actually sit at my desk, there are probably some books and a half-read magazine, probably The Fortean Times, something about cryptozoology or UFOs.

Morning writer or late-night words?
I can’t seem to do anything good after about 2 in the afternoon.

Coffee, tea, nibbles?
I stopped drinking caffeine-heavy drinks about a year ago, but I still like decaf coffee, and I subscribe to the divinity of a little cake.

What's your most tempting distraction?
I seem to spend a lot of time drifting between rooms, doing little jobs, letting out a sigh, but I think that’s all part of the process.

What's that we hear on the speakers?
Probably Aesop Rock.

Have you got any pre-writing rituals?
I guess it’s all a bit ritualistic, isn’t it? Not in a fun, candles-and-hooded cloaks way.

Perfect bookshop to hide on a rainy day?
The Old Pier Bookshop in Morecambe is worth a visit, although not at all relaxing. I guess it would be good to hide in if you were e.g., on the run.

What's your most treasured book?
Generally I try not to get overly sentimental about books as objects, having lived in a lot of different rentals in my time and having to periodically jettison weight. Even now that I’m more settled somewhere, there’s a loosely enforced one-in-one-out policy to try and avoid books breaking free from their cases. I have a few handbound poetry collections that are special. And if I ever get my own copy of David Berman’s Actual Air, I intend to treasure that.

Favourite word?
I like ‘adequate’ and ‘banal’.

Dream writing location?
Somewhere with good lumbar support.

Three writers (dead or alive) to have dinner with?
I’m better one to one, but maybe Russell Edson, Benjamin Zephaniah, Mary Ruefle.

One poem that has changed your life:
Dear Reader by James Tate.