Quote

I read mostly poetry.

I try to show what it is about language and music that enthralls, because I think those are the two elements of poetry.

For me, poetry is always a search for order.

I love poetry; it's my primary literary interest, and I suppose the kind of reading you do when you are reading poems - close reading - can carry over into how you read other things.

I don't think it's always good to read lots of poetry.

You will find poetry nowhere unless you bring some of it with you.

I just discovered when I was, oh, 12 or 13, that I was very interested in language - and this showed itself as poetry. There was no looking back.

In every culture, in every language, there is expressive play, expressive word play; there's language use to different purposes that we would call poetry.

I always read poetry before I write, to sensitize me to the rhythms and music of language.