Hampton Burt
Bewildering Stories biography
I am sort of an outlaw poet. When I was a boy, my dad read me the poems of Edgar Allen Poe. Next, the ideas of Lewis Carol were fascinating. Then many others. Thus inspired, long before I heard of style or form, I began to write.
By the time I reached my first class in literature, my concept of what literature was had already developed along different lines. I enjoyed the studies and received good grades, then returned to my irregular ways, loving them much more.
To me, the world appears to consist of principles and materials capable of being worked into various themes, and life appears to be entities struggling to become perfect. In each thing I do, the perfection is different, subject to the manner in which the thing itself can be made to manifest.
At first I wrote to be adored. But I discovered that such motives are tarnished. Then I wrote to become rich, and learned I was naive. So I wrote to improve my skill, only to find out that what perfection is depends on what you think it is.
Stunned, I kept on writing nonetheless, without knowing why. Finally, I figured out the reason. I write because I love to write. No other justification is needed.
Copyright © 2011 by Hampton Burt
