As a devotee to our four legged friends, I was intrigued when poet and novelist Michael Stewart approached me to take a look at his latest collection, The Dogs (Smokestack, 2023). It’s a great premise – inspired by the memory of a dog chained up to guard a scrap metal yard near his old home, Stewart set out to write a collection of poems which explore our relationship with our oldest domesticated animal, chronicling our shared history and imagining a future where dogs have inherited the world.
It’s a beautifully produced book which includes some wonderful pen and ink illustrations by Louis Benoit, who is well worth checking out in his own right.
With Michael’s permission, I’m sharing a few of my favourite pieces from the book, together with an interview we conducted via email.
Ben Banyard (BB): Have you always been a dog lover and owned/had an affinity with them?
Michael Stewart (MS): Well, I don’t believe in the ownership of sentient creatures, so in that sense, no, never. I’ve always been around dogs and lived with dogs, yes. My father and his father raced and bred whippets and I was surrounded by them as a child. Also, about four years old, we rescued a long-haired collie dog called Major. When this dog died of Parvo nine years later, we acquired a German Shepherd called Corrie. So, yes, dogs have been a significant part of my life. In some ways I prefer dogs to people.
BB: The intro talks about an encounter with a dog which was the inspiration for the book – does this happen a lot in your writing and/or was this an especially compelling influence?
MS: Everything I write comes from a deeply felt emotional response which is then filtered through my imagination. I don’t write autobiographically, well, not directly, but I can trace everything I’ve written to something I have felt and experienced. But my writing is an act of transformation. I construct characters and build story worlds. I’m always looking for that abiding symbol or metaphor which distils the thing I’m trying to express.
BB: The book features excellent pen and ink illustrations by Louis Benoit throughout – how did that collaboration come about?
MS: I loved the work Leonard Baskin did with Ted Hughes, and I was looking for an artist who could embrace the ‘punk’ ethos of the book. I had in mind a sort of Ralph Steadman kind of artist. I writer friend told me about Louis, and I went to see him at work in his studio. I knew instantly, I’d got my man.
BB: In terms of your writing process – the book is structured in three sections. Was this the order in which you wrote the poems? Was it a project that you worked on exclusively or was it happening at the same time as other writing?
MS: I can’t remember exactly. I wrote ‘Guard Dog’ first, in response to the plight of the Low Lane dog. Everything kind of grew out of that poem. I started thinking about our relationship with dogs: where it had come from, how it had developed, where we are now. I worked on the first draft in a concentrated six-month period. Then had breaks between various drafts, where I worked on a novel.
I started writing it during lockdown In 2020. I had long breaks between drafts. The finished draft came about two years later in 2022.
BB: ‘The Fate of Dogs’ is a who’s who of canines in myth and legend. Would you say that your writing is heavily influenced by ancient texts and word of mouth stories? For example, the section titles (Parodos. Stasimon and Exodos) are from Greek tragedy.
MS: Yes, particularly the first section of the book, is drawing on lots of myths from all cultures: Greek, Hindu, Anglo-Saxon, Viking, Roman, Aztec… and so on. It goes back to the neolithic revolution about 12,000 years ago. And in fact, beyond this to much earlier cultures.
BB: The book builds to a moment where dog has usurped man in the world – a kind of Planet of the Dogs. Is man the villain of the piece in your eyes, as far as dogs are concerned? Can humanity redeem itself in Dog’s eyes?
MS: Well, in a sense, dogs are a symbol in the book. They are standing in for a way of looking at our relationship with the natural world. Early hunter/gatherers were at one with nature. Just another part of the ecosystem. But when we turned to farming, during what is called the neolithic revolution, that relationship changed and instead of being at one with nature, we began to exploit it. Our relationship with dogs reflects this development. We started out revering and worshipping the wolf. Dogs taught us to hunt. Taught us to be human. They are probably the reason we grew from being a small cult to be the dominant homo species. We worked alongside dogs, as hunters, and they protected us from predators. Now they are part of our consumer culture. Deformed into status symbols and fashion accessories. We can never be redeemed until we stop exploiting them and learn to respect them again.
BB: Dog is almost always male – was this a conscious choice?
MS: This is a good question. There are lots of female dogs in the book, such as Blondi and Luluwa, but I should explain that there is a recurring character in the book just called Dog, who is the ultimate outsider. He is hated by everyone and everything and he doesn’t care. I like that spirit of defiance! He is the indominable spirit that animates life on Earth. I took the decision to make him male, because I wanted him to be an embodiment of a certain type of male energy.
BB: You clearly had fun with writing the poems and the humour really comes through in (for example) The Commandments. Was it important to strike a balance, given some of the serious subject material?
MS: Thanks. Yes, that was really important. A lot of the poems are dark, necessarily, and a balance was needed. But also, there is an absurd aspect to our relationship with dogs, and I wanted some of the poems to utilise that absurdist humour to reflect that.
BB: I was particularly taken with the poems which are written in a kind of Middle English. They must have been fun to write!
MS: Again, thanks. I’m glad you like those. The three poems are meant to be extracts from a book written by Der UberHünd which he uses in his teachings in order to liberate dogs and radicalise them. They are written in a mongrel language, which combines Middle English, Early Modern English and Modern English. They trace the origins of our relationship with dogs and show the development. In Der UberHünd’s mind all dogs are equal but some are more equal than others. There is a divisive hierarchy at play which he uses to control his followers. The dogs that hunt and guard are treated with the highest respect. Other working dogs are also respected. But toy dogs are looked down on. They are vilified. Fascist dictators need to divide in order to manipulate. In this sense he is typical of lots of cult leaders.
BB: Can you see yourself revisiting Dog in your future writing?
MS: My new novel is called The Last Wolf and is about the hunt for the last wolf in England. It is published next year by HarperCollins, so yes, the interest in dogs continues!
Michael Stewart’s debut novel, King Crow (Bluemoose Books), was the winner of the Guardian’s Not-the-Booker Award and has been selected as a recommended read for World Book Night. He has written two other novels: Café Assassin (Bluemoose Books) and Ill Will: The Untold Story of Heathcliff (HarperCollins); two short fiction collections: Mr Jolly (Valley Press) and Four Letter Words (Wrecking Ball Press); two poetry collections: Couples (Valley Press) and The Dogs (Smokestack Books); and a hybrid memoir: Walking the Invisible: Following in the Brontës’ Footsteps (HarperCollins). His new novel The Last Wolf will be published in 2024 (HarperCollins).
He is the creator of the Brontë Stones project, four monumental stones situated in the landscape between the birthplace and the parsonage, inscribed with poems by Kate Bush, Carol Ann Duffy, Jeannette Winterson and Jackie Kay, which he delivered in collaboration with the Bradford Literature Festival.
Find out more about him here: www.michael-stewart.org.uk or find him on X/Twitter @headspam
Ben Banyard 