Poem-a-Day: "So you want to be a writer?"

A poem selected by Sebastian Armendariz, English 348:

"So you want to be a writer?" by Charles Bukowski.

Read or listen:

Charles Bukowski attended Los Angeles City College from 1939 to 1941, then left school and moved to New York City to become a writer. His lack of publishing success at this time caused him to give up writing in 1946 and spurred a ten-year stint of heavy drinking. After he developed a bleeding ulcer, he decided to take up writing again. He worked a wide range of jobs to support his writing, including dishwasher, truck driver and loader, mail carrier, guard, gas station attendant, stock boy, warehouse worker, shipping clerk, post office clerk, parking lot attendant, Red Cross orderly, and elevator operator. He also worked in a dog biscuit factory, a slaughterhouse, a cake and cookie factory, and he hung posters in New York City subways.
~ Sebastian Armendariz, UW-Eau Claire student, English 348

April is National Poetry Month! UW-Eau Claire students in English 348 (Topics in American Literature) are celebrating National Poetry Month with the McIntyre Library.

Featured poems will be listed here in the order they appear on the blog.

UW-Eau Claire's celebration of National Poetry Month is on Facebook and Twitter!

Questions or comments? Robin Miller will try to help.