Peter Rizzardini, London Independent Story Prize 3rd Round 2024 Poetry Finalist, 'Homeward Run'

London Independent Story Prize 3rd Round 2024 Poetry Finalist, 'Homeward Run', Peter Rizzardini

- Can you please tell us about you and your daily life?

After a long career in education that afforded me the opportunity to live and work across various roles in Australia, Canada, England and China, I am currently enjoying retirement in the coastal city of Wollongong. Like many Australian cities, life is as busy or as peaceful as you want it to be. Long beaches for swimming, walking or fishing or the cosmopolitan life of farmers markets, bars, restaurants and cafes.

- When and how did you get into writing?

My mother was a great story teller, I remember her making up funny words for popular songs on the radio to make us laugh. I wrote a lot of poetry as a teenager and was lucky enough to be included in an anthology of young Australian poets published by FAW, the Fellowship of Australian Writers in 1980. Over the years I’ve tried my hand at different genres, travel writing, teen fiction, picture books and stories for younger readers. Earlier this year one of my stories, The Bear and the Bird made the top one hundred list in The Bath Children’s Novel Award.

- How often do you write? Do you have a writing routine? And what inspires you to write?

I don’t have a writing routine and write when inspiration takes over. When that happens I write until the story or poem appears to be completed. Days or weeks might go by until I revisit the keyboard. In many ways the words control me and sadly, not the other way around.

- How does it feel to have your work recognised?

I remember the excitement of being published for the first time and receiving my first royalty cheque. It is very rewarding to think that some 45 years later my words can still be perceived as relevant.

- What's the best and most challenging thing about writing Poetry? 

I love writing and see it as a release, a way of getting all the rushing thoughts out of my mind. For me it is a need, I don’t write for a purpose, I write because there is a story inside me that wants to come out. It’s not necessarily something I can control. I learnt this the hard way whilst working in China. After reading one of my stories, a major children’s publisher offered me a role as a freelance writer, writing readers for their school age range. They would send me the topics that needed covering along with the vocabulary and word count. I found it impossible to write to their formula. If the story is not there, I can’t force it.

-  How did you develop the idea for your LISP-selected story? Is there a story behind your story? And, how long have you been working on it?

The first few lines of Homeward Run came to me one evening while I was watching a Canadian crime series. The Victorian detective was examining the tyre ruts left behind by a wagon in a lane, that got me thinking about how rutted the path would be along the lane. By the time I woke the next morning the first stanza had been running around in my mind all night, so it was just a matter of writing it down. It wasn’t until a week or so later that the remainder of the poem materialized during a walk along the coast. At times like this I sometimes find it useful to record notes on my phone so that I don’t forget them before I get home. The tempo and rhythm were important in this poem as I wanted to replicate the sound of horse’s hooves and the clatter of a mill.

- Can you please give us a few tips about writing Poetry?

I think that writing is a very personal experience and different for each author. Some find it useful to dedicate a certain time each day to write, some like me only write when there is a story to tell, some clever people can write for a particular audience or to a specific formula. In other words, do what feels right for you, it’s your story, tell it your way.

- What's the best thing and the most challenging thing about competitions? 

After returning to Australia to retire having lived overseas for so many years I rediscovered the book that I was first published in in 1980. That made me question whether such competitions still exist. The answer is of course yes. Entering competitions again after 45 years was a challenge, rejection after all is part of the writing process, but that makes success even more sweeter.

- Lastly, do you recommend the writers submit to LISP?

Simple. Yes.