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dorian north

A black and white image of poet Dorian North in front of a brick wall.

IG: @dorian.north.writer

An image of the front cover of Dorian North's poetry collection Class.//Less in front of a grey background

A Yorkshireman in Virginia

 

Hey, Dorian. Describe your work in five words:

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  • Sociopolitical

  • Nostalgic

  • Ranty

  • Leftward

  • Orreight (I suppose)

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What can we expect from your upcoming collection?

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*Exhales*. Well. The last couple of years have been a journey. Both in the physical sense as well as geopolitical. My writing started initially as catharsis to combat the clusterfuck I found myself travelling from as well as travelling to. I'd always immersed myself in the goings-on of the UK, and had lived there from mid-2015 [pre-Brexit vote rumblings] through to end-2021 [COVID still rife, Brexit still meaning Brexit]. So there was a lot to unpack.
 

As for the US side of things, it was how I dealt with the culture shock whilst simultaneously being acutely aware that there was so much I *didn't* know [and that isn't told or taught] about life here. So I read. And listened. And lived. And talked. And responded. And wrote. [Follow said cycle ad infinitum.]
 

Within the book, I like to think that there is a humanistic perspective throughout–but I'll gladly acknowledge that I make no secret of my political leanings! My Grandad referred to himself as a "proud Socialist", and sometimes family values are worth embracing!
 

I hope that y'all can sort of keep track of the start-to-finish timeline of progression throughout. As I make mention in the notes at the start–the book is by no way a means to an end, it is merely the beginning of whatever comes next.

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Lastly, I'd encourage you to speak the words on the page aloud, as they were written to be heard, not just read. Not to an audience or owt, unless you'd like to.
 

Oh. One more thing. Do not expect summat I've done to ever be succinct. Use these question responses as a barometer of rambleness.

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Who do you write for?

 

My gut instinct was to say that I write *for* myself. I'm not a mouthpiece for others, nor will I ever pose or pretend to be. I try to always view [and write to, and respond to] events and issues bigger than myself through my own lens. Anything I don't know enough about, I read about it before writing. Because penning and sharing from a position of ignorance is more dangerous than silent ignorance alone. I'd love for people to disagree with what I'm writing and hold discussion with me about it, rather than steadfastly maintaining a polar opposite position on it due to political leanings or suchlike. That in itself is progress.

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I pen things in the hope that what I write resonates with someone. Guides them towards reading further in the same way that having these issues around me guided me to read more to start with. That's an awful sentence to read, my goodness. I hope that makes sense. So yep. Whoever that may be, that's who I write for.​

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What do you have on your chips?

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Being well-travelled when it comes to chip consumerism, I'd have to say that my response varies depending on context:

 

In Australia, it's straight-up chicken salt. I don't actually know what's in chicken salt. But. It's fab. Well worth the day on a plane to try some yourself. Before international travel is no longer allowed for recreational reasons because atmosphere-death and such, which I firmly believe will happen in my lifetime. I digress. You asked about chips.

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By the sea in the UK, it has to be salt, vinegar, and mushy peas. Elsewhere in the UK, it'd be salt, vinegar, and ketchup.

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In the US, I'd just like anywhere to actually make decent chip shop chips in the first place, because none of the above is applicable to fries. At all. The skinniness ruins the surface area to volume ratio; so as a result, the peak soggy to solid required to enter chippie nirvana is a pure impossibility.

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You can purchase a copy of Class.//Less from our shop now!

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