Poet Heath Brougher has recently released his fourth book, About Consciousness ( Alien Budda Press ). Written from a Pantheistic point of view, the book deals with varied stages of the conscious.

What was it like growing up in York, PA? What is it like there?

Growing up was horrible as I went to a school known as Snob Hill and the stuck up, snobby scumbags who also attended the school put me through a daily grind of ridicule and humiliation because I would not conform and follow their trends. However, now that I’m 37 years old and away from those snobby conformist assholes, I’m really enjoying it. I’ve just started to make some good friends in the literary scene here and we are trying to build it up as much as possible.

How do you think your early beginnings have influenced you to become a poet?

I’ve been writing pretty much ever since I leaned how so it must have been something necessary for me. I know writing was very cathartic during the six years of torture I had to endure at that piece of shit middle/high school I attended.

What do you think you would be doing if you hadn’t became a writer?

I have no idea. I bounced around from job to job after attending Temple University. I’ve known I wanted to be a writer/philosopher as far back as fourth grade. It’s the only thing I’ve ever wanted to do with my life.

What do you find most challenging when it comes to putting thoughts and feelings to paper?

Reading my terrible handwriting when typing up the uncountable number of  20 years worth of notebooks as well as the 61 entire books I’ve written over the past 20 years.

Why do you think man has always felt the need to express themselves through words ?

As I said before, it’s very cathartic. Also, it was important for human beings to pass down information to the oncoming generations.

Why do you think it is so important for one to be aware of their own self , their surroundings, and others?

I think it is of utmost importance for one to be aware of one’s Self as it will determine how they perceive their surroundings as well as others.

What are you most aware of in regards to your own self?

I spent twelve years living like a total hermit so I could mirror only my own thoughts so I got to know my Self very well during that time. I think what I’m most aware of is how insane society is and how much it can shackle a person to what I call :the Mainstream Thought.”

What brought about the book About Consciousness?

My first three books all dealt with Consciousness to at least some degree, so a book like this was pretty much inevitable for me to eventually write. Much thanks to Alien Buddha Press for publishing it and to Red Focks for supplying all the amazing artwork within its pages. It can be purchased at Amazon as well as at the Alien Budda Press website.

What do you hope the reader takes away from this particular work?

I just hope it stirs up new thoughts in their heads and gets them to start looking at the world in a bit of a different way than they previously had. Basically I hope it sparks some new thoughts in the minds of any given reader…

What are your feelings on the current state of the literary field in general? What are some of the encouraging elements you have encountered? What do you find most daunting about it?

I could go on a long tangent about this but I won’t. I think the current state of the literary world is ripe with corruption and cronyism. The playing field is not even because a lot of these journals judge a submission by a person’s bio and not the actual work itself. That’s why I’ve read blind for everything I’ve ever read as an editor. Reading blind is the way to go. That’s what we do at Into the Void Magazine, where I am currently the co-poetry editor, and we won the 2017 Saboteur Award for Best Magazine after only four issues. That’s an amazing feat for a journal, and we did it by picking the best poems instead of our friends’ poems like most of the “big time” journals. I think the sky is the limit for Into the Void and we’ll be joining these “big time” journals soon to show them how it’s really done.

What would you say is the best advice anyone has ever given you about the important things in life?

I’d definitely have to say my dad. I may have never even begun cultivating my intellect if it was not for him constantly teaching me about life and history. I think he’s the person who originally got my brain revved up

What do you think is key to a life well lived?

I think the key is living it however you want to and not worrying about what others think of it. I believe everyone should live their lives on their own terms.

What projects are you looking forward to bringing into being next?

There’s a specific “style” of writing which I’ve been developing as far back as age 17. I recently put the first book of Spiralism together and am shopping it around to various publishers.

Is there anything else you’d like to say?

I’d like to thank you for asking me to do this interview and to Alien Buddha Press for publishing my newest book.