Gabriel Ricard: Obviously, this is a collection of poetry meant to draw attention to the plight of Afghanistan and the work being done by the charity organization Spirit Aid. Tell us a bit how this project came about and why poetry was chosen as a medium to promote this organization and its mission.
Dee Sunshine: I think Afghanistan struck a chord with me because it was the first time in my lifetime that my country, the UK (in coalition with the USA) illegally invaded another country, unquestionably to remove the Taliban from power and to secure a gas pipeline across the country. Osama Bin Laden (also known as CIA Operative, "Tim Osman") was a red herring, just as were the non-existent "weapons of mass destruction" in Iraq. The politics of deception aside, there was one all-too-human story that really struck me, and it was the bombing of a family of goat-herders, men, women, children, babies and goats, all blown to bloody bits. It could have been my family, or your family, minding their own business, getting on with their daily tasks, ordinary folk with no interest in war or politics, just in trying to survive, and then in come the jet fighters with their million dollar guided missiles, and that's it. I don't know if anyone survived that attack. I hope not, better to be dead than to see your loved ones splattered all over the land that was once your home, it was the utter senselessness of this murder that planted the seed of "I have to do something" in my soul. A few years later, I came across the Glasgow Charity, Spirit Aid, and heard that they were actively working in Afghanistan, bringing doctors, nurses, medicines and supplies to outlying regions where the infrastructure had been decimated and where people had not had access to medical facilities for 25 years (ever since the Russian invasion). It was then—back in 2004—that I had the idea of putting together a charity poetry anthology, to try to raise funds for Spirit Aid. And why a poetry book? Because I am a poet, and because I was a magazine editor it was my only field of expertise. It was the only thing I could offer, and I wanted to offer something!
GR: Tell us about Spirit Aid itself.
DS: Spirit Aid is a Glasgow based charity. It was founded by the actor and director, David Hayman, and is staffed by volunteers, who willingly give of their time and energy to support charity projects in Afghanistan, Sri Lanka , Malawi and South Africa. You can find out more about Spirit Aid at www.spiritaid.org.uk and more about their project in Afghanistan at www.spiritaid.org.uk/afghanistan.html.
GR: Was it at all difficult to find poems that stood on their own as artistically powerful works that at the same time brought attention to the tragedy going on in Afghanistan?
DS: The purpose of The Book Of Hopes And Dreams was not to draw attention to the tragedy of Afghanistan (for the word "tragedy" conveys an undercurrent of helplessness), but to draw attention to the power of the human spirit (even in adversity). I wanted the focus to be on the positive rather than the negative, so that when people read this collection of poetry they are encouraged to believe in themselves, to believe in humanity, and to believe that they do have the power to change the world. Let's be clear here, every good action changes the world for the better: even if it is only a small change, it is a change nonetheless. I wanted The Book Of Hopes And Dreams to be a collection of uplifting and inspiring poetry that would inspire people to do something, to contribute towards making the world a better place.
GR: Was it easy to find writers willing to lend their voices and talents to the project?
DS: Attracting writers willing to lend their voices to this project was not the problem. The open call for submissions attracted over 2,000 submissions. The problem, for me, was reading them all, single-handedly, and having to make some very difficult decisions about what to include in the anthology, and what to discard. Simultaneous to the open call for submissions, I spent considerable time trying to track down and contact well-known and respected poets, in the hope that a few might contribute and that their names would add some weight and credibility to the book, especially when trying to attract the interest of publishers. I didn't have high expectations, imagining that poets of their calibre would rightly prefer to support projects where they get paid for their contributions, but I was wrong, so wrong. The final roll call of The Book Of Hopes And Dreams reads like a Who's Who of poetry.
GR: It’s rare to find a poetry collection featuring such an incredible range of writers from so many walks of life. Were you yourself surprised by this? Do you think it’s one of the book’s strongest features?
DS: I was surprised to receive so many fine poems, both from well-known and relatively unknown writers. I knew that my initial criteria — that the poems should be in some way uplifting, inspiring or transcendental — would deter a lot of contributors. I felt I'd put in a bit of a tall order, and was, in truth, surprised by the wealth of submissions I received. There are no "fillers" in The Book Of Hopes And Dreams, nothing put in as padding; each and every poem in the collection is a gem and a delight.
GR: The Book of Hopes and Dreams was originally a print publication, but something unfortunately happened that caused the book to be pulled from circulation. Could you tell us a little bit about that?
DS: In a nutshell, the company that published the original print version of The Book Of Hopes And Dreams promised me the moon and delivered absolutely nothing. It was a long complicated and bitterly disappointing saga (written about in detail in the appendix of the e-book version) which culminated in me threatening the company with legal action and insisting that they withdrew the publication from their stock. This company, which I would love to name and shame (but won't because of possible legal ramifications) has been the source of grief not only to me, but to many other writers I know of.
GR: It certainly sounds like this was an immensely difficult, drawn-out project to realize. Was that indeed the case? Was it a relief to finally see this whole thing come to fruition?
DS: The whole process took two and a half years. And you would think there would have been a sense of relief once the book was actually published, but that was when the problems really started. If I were to give you a blow by blow account of the publisher's failings I would fill at least a page, maybe even two. It was a nightmare, and although several years have now passed, it still makes my blood boil to think about it. The relief didn't come until the book was finally deleted from publication, but with the relief also came shame and grief, because the project was ultimately a failure. It took me a long time to get over my disappointment. It took a long time before my head was clear enough to conceive of a possible rebirth of The Book Of Hopes And Dreams as an e-book.
GR: Is there anything you feel like you could have done more of? Is this book exactly what you hoped it would be?
DS: The Book Of Hopes And Dreams is more than I hoped it would be. I had relatively high expectations, but those have been more than exceeded. It is, for me, the best poetry anthology I have ever had the delight to read, and I do not put this down to my skills as an editor, but down to the amazing calibre of the contributors and their support for a very worthy cause. My only regret is that the book did not get published by a worthy publisher, because I truly believe, with the support and publicity that only a major publisher could provide, The Book Of Hopes And Dreams could have sold very well indeed and raised a significant sum for Spirit Aid.
GR: Any favorites?
DS: It would be disingenuous of me to pretend I don't have any personal favourites among the collection, but this is not about me or my preferences; it is about raising money for Spirit Aid, and to that end I am delighted that The Book Of Hopes And Dreams has attracted contributions from some of the biggest "stars" of the poetry world. I am still amazed, inspired and grateful when I think about it, that poets of the stature of Margaret Atwood, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Carol Ann Duffy and Simon Armitage would support this project and freely contribute their poetry.
GR: Did any of the poems really hit home for you, in terms of your cause? Would you say there was any one (or more) poem that pulled you into why you got into this line of work in the first place?
DS: There is not a single poem in this collection that does not, in some way, hit home for me, and I am certain that these poems will hit home for anyone who reads them. As for poems that got me into "this line of work", if you mean as a poet, well yes, actually, there is one. It is the poem, "Trio" by Edwin Morgan, which I first encountered when I was fourteen years old. Morgan opened my eyes to the world of poetry with this visual, emotional and spiritual treat of a poem, set in my hometown, Glasgow, and planted the seed of the poet in my adolescent soul. I specifically asked Edwin if I could include this poem in the anthology, and in his usual generous way, he unhesitatingly obliged.
GR: How much money do you ideally hope to raise through this venture?
DS: Ideally? Well, how about 100 billion pounds, ideally, the sort of sum that might get spent on a war. That would be ideal. Imagine if our taxes were spent on poetry and charities instead of war and destruction! Imagine, even, if we were willing to spend as much money on repairing countries like Afghanistan in the aftermath of war as we are willing to spend blowing them to kingdom come.
But let's get realistic here, and not talk about ideals. The e-book version of The Book Of Hopes And Dreams was released two weeks ago, and has so far raised £18 for Spirit Aid. A number of internet and print magazines have promised reviews or free publicity, and gradually, slowly, word will spread and sales will trickle in. How much will get raised in the end? Realistically? Hell, I don't want to be realistic. Shall I tell you what I hope for, within the laws of possible scenarios? I hope that someone will show this article to (for example) Neil Astley at Bloodaxe, that it'll pique his curiosity, that he'll go and check out the Spirit Aid website at www.spiritaid.org.uk and The Book Of Hopes And Dreams webpage at www.rimbaud.org.uk/bookofhope.html and that he'll decide he has to give The Book Of Hopes And Dreams a second life as a print paperback, that he'll pump resources into publicizing it and getting it shelflife in major bookstores, that it'll sell tens of thousands of copies and raise tens of thousands of pounds for Spirit Aid. That is what I hope and dream for, a very small miracle!
GR: Would you say that raising awareness to this cause is almost as important or even just as important as the money itself?
DS: For the people of Afghanistan, suffering needlessly from lack of medicines for curable diseases, raising money has to be the first priority. In the long term, raising awareness may prove to be even more important.
GR: Do you foresee any real end to the severe problems facing Afghanistan? If not, do you find it difficult to retain optimism and hope in the face of so much indifference from politicians and even the public at large?
DS: To be honest, it is hard to keep my optimism intact in a world where criminal politicians initiate insane and illegal wars against countries that are of strategic commercial importance to hugely powerful multi-national corporations. It is hard to imagine any politician ever having the integrity to stand up against such corruption. And it is hard to imagine many people tearing themselves away from x-factor or strictly come dancing to even give a moment's thought to the plight of others. However, I do believe there is a slowly growing revulsion against what governments and corporations are doing, and slowly, but surely people are looking for ways in which they can take back their power. For instance, there are radicals out there who refuse to own cars, who make all their journeys by bicycle or public transport, because they refuse to have unnecessary blood on their hands, because it is against their principles to consume oil which illegal wars have been fought over. They are a very small minority, and probably not a big thorn in the side of Exxon-Mobile or Royal Dutch Shell, but imagine if this boycott actually took off. An impossible dream? Thirty years ago it was only a few crackpot hippies that were vegetarians, and now there are so many it has had a significant knock on effect on the meat industry. So, the answer, ultimately is no, it is not difficult to retain my optimism. I believe in the essential goodness of humanity. We're stupid, for sure, and we let our goodness get manipulated by the greedy, blind ones in power, but slowly, slowly, we're learning, and we're waking up. We're making significant progress. Only a few hundred years ago it was okay to own another human being as a slave or to burn someone at the stake as a witch or heretic. Things are unimaginably better nowadays. Why shouldn't they continue getting better? So yes, I am optimistic.
GR: What can people do to help beyond the purchase of this wonderful collection?
DS: The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are about the control of resources like oil and gas, few people can harbour illusions otherwise. And as oil and gas consumers, we are ALL passively culpable. Without our demand, there would be no wars for the control of supplies. It's as simple and brutal as that. We are ALL guilty. So what can we do? Well, for most people it would be near impossible to completely stop consuming oil, gas and other fuels. However, there are MANY ways which you can reduce your consumption: insulate your home, use public transport, cycle, walk your children to school, switch off lights when you leave a room, all sorts of simple, effective ways of saving energy, saving the planet, stopping needless wars, and saving money too. Sure, if only one person does it, the overall effect is nothing, but if millions or even billions of people do, it will have a significant effect.
GR: I know you’re a writer yourself. Are there any outside projects or works that you would like to point out, draw some attention to?
DS: Briefly, if you are interested, you can find out more at www.thunderburst.co.uk and my Facebook page.
GR: If the collection is a success, can we anticipate further collections, or maybe something a little different but still under a creative umbrella?
DS: If The Book Of Hopes And Dreams is a success then there will definitely be follow up projects.
Gabriel Ricard is a Staff Interviewer at Unlikely 2.0. You can learn more about him at his bio page.