Tom DiVenti

Photo by Jamie Wilson

When did you start to write and why?

1975 - a poetry workshop got me writing on a regular basis. Things were fomenting in my head. It was boiling and the release valve was ready to burst.

Venue, back in the day. . .

Who were your early inspirations?

As a kid I read Mark Twain, Jules Verne, Edgar Allen Poe and many of the Sci Fi writers like Isaac Asimov and Phillip K. Dick. In my twenties I discovered Henry Miller, Samuel Beckett, the Beats, Bukowski, Sam Shepard, Rimbaud, Baudelaire, John Fante, Blaise Cendrars among others

Samuel Clemens playing billiards

Has that changed?

Yes now I read whatever tickles my fancy...now reading Robert Maier's Low Budget Hell. Just finished Leonard Cohen’s last book, The Flame. And also reading Carl Watson.

How do you go about writing, from idea to published content?

I have an idea for subject matter, whether it's pop culture, music, old movies, existential angst or any other modern madness. Then it's a combination of improvisation and chance. Riffing, ranting, raving and automatic writing.

Gif by Colin Raff

What do you think of the world?

Not much. It's a rare, crazy, beautiful dream we navigate around in. My personal philosophy is the world's inside my head and everything that happens starts there first.

Morrris Martick’s place, where Tom worked once upon a time . . .

If you were to give advice to a young writer, what would it be?

Run, run as fast as you can. Don't do it. It's not for everybody. If you must do it, do it with gusto and conviction. Don't quit your day job.

Plan 9 from Outer Space

Anything else you'd care to mention.

Be true to your self. Don't let anyone tell you what to do. Stay free and question everything. Fuck conformity, politics and religion...

John Waters and his parents.