Life “Afterlife”: an interview with the wry and wonderful J.R. Solonche

Nominated for the National Book Award, the Eric Hoffer Book Award, and nominated three times for the Pulitzer Prize, J.R. Solonche is the author of over 40 books of poetry.

TRP: Your poem, “Afterlife,” closes the Fall 2025 issue. Can you tell me something about the composition of the piece, particularly when you knew when it was finished?

I ask because I love both the proposition and the parallels of the poem, literal and metaphorical, as each two line stanza opens and forms the pairing it describes: a nap and the end of summer; the two “S”s of Sunday and September and the two black birches from which the hammock hangs; the open, facing pages of book of poems and the sun sliding between clouds; the music of old row boat and the anchoring lake; the oars and their purpose both drifting back to shore, parallel lines and an equal sign … and more. I love the way each stanza exceeds itself, the way the poem opens and lives beyond its frame. It could almost go on forever, this sweetness.

JR Solonche: Yes, forever and ever. I don’t remember what inspired the poem. Probably I read a poem somewhere on the same subject, so I tried my hand at it. Read it again but this time with an eye out for “out.” It appears in some way or another in ten of the lines. Anyway, to answer your question – I knew it was finished when I put the period at the end of the fourteenth line. It’s a nonce sonnet. Thank you for listening to the poem so attentively.

TRP: My pleasure. At this point in your career, you can publish anywhere. If you don’t mind my asking, what drew you to Tar River Poetry?

JR Solonche: The poetry.

TRP: Well, that’s the nicest thing you could have said.

We usually ask poets a question about how their most recent book relates to previous ones (usually this means a second or third book in relation to a first). But you’ve published over forty; I hardly know where to start. May I ask if you’ve a favorite, or are they like children … a small army of children you wouldn’t want to annoy by playing favorites?

JR Solonche: I have no qualms about annoying them. My eldest, Beautiful Day, is among my favorites. His siblings are in full agreement. My favorite has to be Collected Short Poems (Shanti Arts, 2025) since it gathers all the kids into the house for a family reunion.

TRP: I see you still live in New York state. How has living there all these years informed your work?

JR Solonche: I was born in Manhattan and raised in The Bronx. My wife and I moved north to the Hudson Valley in the early 70s. I still have something of a Bronx accent. And, for better or worse, so does a lot of my poetry. “Afterlife” is a country poem. It can be read as “after life in The Bronx” if you try hard enough.

TRP: Can you take me through what writing a poem looks like for you? Do you have a set practice?

JR Solonche: It looks like this poem I wrote this morning:

          The morning knocked on
          the window with its golden
          knuckles. “I have a surprise
          for you,” it said. “I don’t like
          surprises,” I said, turning away
          from the window. “You’ll like
          this one,” it said. “Okay. What
          is it?” I said. “You’re alive,”
          said the morning.

Can you suggest a title?

TRP: I appreciate the invitation, but I wouldn’t dare.

But I will ask, who are the writers that have shaped you as a poet? Do you have any particularly strong influences?

JR Solonche: William Blake. Emily Dickinson. William Carlos Williams. A.R. Ammons.

TRP: And what are you reading right now?

JR Solonche: William Blake. Emily Dickinson. William Carlos Williams. A.R. Ammons.

TRP: I’m sure you know TRP is quite proud that we published Ammons. Thank you for the interview.

Helena Feder enjoyed working on this interview.