FAQs
This page brings together some of the questions readers often ask about my work how the books relate to one another, the themes they return to, and what sits underneath them. The answers are offered as context rather than explanation, and as an invitation to enter the work with a sense of where it comes from and what it is trying to hold.
​​​
What kind of books do you write?
Under the name S P Clark, I write poetry, short fiction, and plays. While the forms vary, the books return to the same concerns - lived experience, trauma, love, grief, sexuality, and mortality - and are written from a single, consistent voice.
​
How many books have you published?
So far, I have published ten books: 7 poetry collections, 1 short story, 1 short story collection and 1 play.
​
Are the books connected?
Yes, though not as a traditional series. Rather than separate projects, the books form an ongoing body of work, shaped by recurring questions and experiences that unfold over time.
​
Do I need to read the books in order?
No. Each book can be read independently, though some readers choose to move between them and notice connections emerging gradually.
​
Which book should I start with?
There isn’t a single starting point. Some readers begin with One Year With Mister R because it is direct and chronological; others start with love (Two Men, One Love), grief (Entertaining Goodbye), or brevity (Haiku or Sixty). I recommend beginning with whichever description speaks to where you are now.
Are your books autobiographical?
Many of the books draw directly on lived experience, but they are shaped as works of art rather than memoir. Emotional truth matters more to me than strict categorisation.
​
Why write about difficult or uncomfortable subjects?
I write because some things do not stay quiet. Writing became the place where I could stop editing myself and speak honestly about experiences that didn’t fit neatly into conversation. The work is not about confession for its own sake, but about naming what has already happened.
​
Some of your books deal with trauma. What should readers expect?
These books do not offer tidy arcs or quick healing. Written from inside the experience, they reflect how trauma lingers, shifts, and resurfaces over time.
​
Are your books meant to be hopeful?
They are honest first. If hope appears, it does so quietly - through clarity, recognition, and the act of naming what has been lived.
​​
Your work often focuses on love as well as pain. Why?
Because love doesn’t disappear simply because pain exists. The books hold tenderness and desire alongside loss, vulnerability alongside heartbreak. Even brief or unfinished love still matters.
​
What is Two Men, One Love about?
It grew out of an intense, short-lived connection that began casually and became something deeper. The poems honour the experience without diminishing it simply because it did not last.
​
How does The Journey to Love differ from later books?
It looks back at early love, before experience taught caution. There is a softness to it — not because it was naïve, but because it belongs to a different time.
​​
Why write haiku, very short stories, and fragments?
Constraint interests me because it removes places to hide. Whether through haiku or sixty-word stories, brevity sharpens rather than reduces emotional impact.
​
What is Sixty?
A collection of sixty short stories, each exactly sixty words long. Within those limits, whole lives unfold - sometimes dark, sometimes absurd, sometimes unexpectedly tender.
​
What inspired Clark Meets Munch?
The poems are emotional responses to the work of Edvard Munch. Rather than analysing the art, they explore shared emotional territory - melancholy, sexuality, mortality - across time.
​​
Several books focus on death and grief. What draws you back to these themes?
Because avoiding them does not make them disappear. Books like Entertaining Goodbye sit with illness, suicide, grief, and mortality without trying to make them easier. Sometimes naming something is the first act of kindness we can offer ourselves.
​
What is The Unknown Lady about?
It is a short story of grief told through fragments and other people’s perspectives. At its centre is a woman who is constantly observed and rarely understood, raising questions about how well we ever truly know those closest to us.
​​
What is Discovery about?
It centres on a young man coming to terms with his sexuality within a household shaped by emotional abuse and fear. Secrets surface, tensions escalate, and silence becomes impossible. It is deliberately uncomfortable in places, but it leaves room for resilience and change.
​​
Are the books emotionally heavy?
Some of them can be. The books deal honestly with subjects many people live with quietly, and they do not rush toward reassurance or resolution.
​
Do the books contain explicit content?
Some works include references to sex, sexuality, abuse, and emotional distress where those are part of the lived reality being explored. Nothing is included for shock value.
​
How long are the books?
Lengths vary. Some collections are brief and precise; others take more time to unfold. Many readers choose to dip in rather than read straight through.
​
Can the books be read in short sittings?
Yes. Several collections are well suited to reading in small moments. You do not need long stretches of uninterrupted time.
​
Where can I buy the books?
All ten books by S P Clark are available now. Purchase links can be found in my shop or on Amazon.
​
Do you plan to keep writing?
Yes. Writing remains a way of staying present and honest. New work develops quietly and appears when it is ready.
​
What do you hope readers take away from the books?
Not answers or resolutions. If a reader feels recognised, less alone, or more able to name their own experience, that is enough.
​
​