American - Poet | -
I remain loyal to Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert in music and to Shakespeare and Jane Austen in literature.
Anne Stevenson
MusicLiteratureLoyalJane Austen
I think a poet, like a painter, should be a craftsperson.
ThinkPoetLikePainterI Think
I work very hard on all my poems, but most of the work consists of trying not to sound as if I had worked. I try to make them sound as natural as possible, but within a quite strict form, which to my ears has a lot to do with musical rhythm and sound.
WorkTryingPossibleTryRhythm
I write, or used to write, to explain to myself situations I couldn't otherwise solve or understand. Meditation comes very naturally to me.
MyselfMeMeditationUnderstandUsed
I'm not really quiet or shy. Ask any of my friends! But I always ground my poetry in life itself. Poetry is an art of language, though, so I am always aware of every word's meaning, or multiple meanings.
LifeArtI AmPoetryLanguageQuiet
My earlier poems were sadder than my poems are today, perhaps because I wrote them in confusion or when I was unhappy. But I am not a melancholy person, quite the contrary, no one enjoys laughing more than I do.
TodayI AmUnhappyPersonConfusion
Peter Lucas and I live in Durham but spend a great of time in North Wales, where we have a cottage in the mountains, and in Vermont, USA, with my sister - who is a children's writer married to a poet.
LiveChildrenGreatTimeMountains
Poets should ignore most criticism and get on with making poetry.
PoetryCriticismIgnoreGetMost
Sylvia Plath was just a month and a half older than I, and when she committed suicide I was only 30 - and very shocked and sorry. I never knew her personally.
SorrySuicideNeverSheMonthHer
There is far too much literary criticism of the wrong kind. That is why I never could have survived as an academic.
CriticismWrongToo MuchKindWhy
When everything is for 'fun' nothing is for the good.
GoodFunNothingEverything
Yes, I do often write poems from the mind, but I hope I don't ignore feelings and emotions.
HopeMindIgnoreFeelingsEmotions
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