I don't like political poetry, and I don't write it. If this question was pointing towards that, I think it is missing the point of the American tradition, which is always apolitical, even when the poetry comes out of politically active writers. Diane Wakoski on poetry
I have always wanted what I have now come to call the voice of personal narrative. That has always been the appealing voice in poetry. It started for me lyrically in Shakespeare's sonnets. Diane Wakoski on poetry
I think I'm a very good reader of poetry, but obviously, like everybody, I have a set of criteria for reading poems, and I'm not shy about presenting them, so if people ask for my critical response to a poem, I tell them what works and why, and what doesn't work and why. Diane Wakoski on poetry
I think that great poetry is the most interesting and complex use of the poet's language at that point in history, and so it's even more exciting when you read a poet like Yeats, almost 100 years old now, and you think that perhaps no one can really top that. Diane Wakoski on poetry
Poetry is, first and last, language - the rest is filler. Mark Strand on poetry
Poetry is something that happens in universities, in creative writing programs or in English departments. Mark Strand on poetry
I would say that American poetry has always been a poetry of personal testimony. Mark Strand on poetry
I think the best American poetry is the poetry that utilizes the resources of poetry rather than exploits the defects or triumphs of the poet's personality. Mark Strand on poetry
I certainly can't speak for all cultures or all societies, but it's clear that in America, poetry serves a very marginal purpose. It's not part of the cultural mainstream. Mark Strand on poetry
I believe that all poetry is formal in that it exists within limits, limits that are either inherited by tradition or limits that language itself imposes. Mark Strand on poetry
And yet, in a culture like ours, which is given to material comforts, and addicted to forms of entertainment that offer immediate gratification, it is surprising that so much poetry is written. Mark Strand on poetry
And at least in poetry you should feel free to lie. That is, not to lie, but to imagine what you want, to follow the direction of the poem. Mark Strand on poetry
A life is not sufficiently elevated for poetry, unless, of course, the life has been made into an art. Mark Strand on poetry
A great many people seem to think writing poetry is worthwhile, even though it pays next to nothing and is not as widely read as it should be. Mark Strand on poetry
I published, privately, a collection of my serious poetry I had written over the years. I only published 50 copies, which I gave to friends, in a special deluxe edition. It was ridiculously expensive but I'm glad that I did it. Tom Glazer on poetry
Well, the great thing for me about poetry is that in good poems the dislocation of words, that is to say, the distance between what they say they're saying and what they are actually saying is at its greatest. Harry Mathews on poetry
Well, I had this little notion - I started writing when I was eleven, writing poetry. I was passionately addicted to it it was my great refuge through adolescence. Harry Mathews on poetry
My next project is to get back to that. Actually, to learn how to write poetry. I'm not kidding. Harry Mathews on poetry
Even the people who have had success and made money writing these books of fiction seem to feel the need to pretend it's no big deal, or part of a natural progression from poetry to fiction, but often it's really just about the money, the perceived prestige. George Murray on poetry
Humour is a fine line to walk in poetry, as in fiction. I just think it's harder to write. It's harder to keep the respect of the reader too. George Murray on poetry