If you go into a bar in most places in America and even say the word poetry, you'll probably get beaten up. But poetry is a really strong, beautiful form to me, and a lot of innovation in language comes from poetry. Jim Jarmusch
I work on words, mostly, toward them being poetry or short stories, and then some of those become songs. They all find their place in the world, but they all start off in the same place. I'm always painting and drawing as well, and it's an ongoing creative assignment. P. J. Harvey
I was a visual artist primarily and a writer, even from a very young age. I wrote a lot of stories and poetry and... I had a desire to create always. And I always had a desire to show my work. P. J. Harvey
There is an urgent need for Americans to look deeply into themselves and their actions, and musical poetry is perhaps the most effective mirror available. Every newspaper headline is a potential song. Phil Ochs
When I really want to be soothed and reminded of why people bother to fiddle with sentences, I often read poetry. Nicholson Baker
From my music training, I knew that, some Spanish rhythms apart, 5/4 is a time signature used only in the modern era. Holst's Mars from the Planets is 5/4. But if you speak lines of poetry in that pattern you just end up hitting the off-beats. It's only when you add a rest - a sixth beat - that it sounds as it surely should sound. Nicholson Baker
So I really began as a failed poet - although when I first wanted to be a writer, I learned to write prose by reading poetry. Nicholson Baker
I've always written, all my life, and when I was very young I developed an interest in poetry. Jeffery Deaver
I like the way words go together and I like the gamesmanship of writing poetry. It is such a challenge. Jeffery Deaver
Poetry a criticism of life under the conditions fixed for such a criticism by the laws of poetic truth and poetic beauty. Matthew Arnold
I'm quite sure that most writers would sustain real poetry if they could, but it takes devotion and talent. Marguerite Young
I'm as much influenced by Joseph Smith and the Mormons as I am, more so, than by Eliot. Actually, I'm much more influenced by the poetry of the Mormons. Marguerite Young
I guess the two Manifesto, Communicating Vessels, Mad Love, and some of his poetry made a significant mark on me but as far as bringing a literary element into the music I see it as a much broader assimilation. Trevor Dunn
Even if you only want to write science fiction, you should also read mysteries, poetry, mainstream literature, history, biography, philosophy, and science. Walter Jon Williams
It's necessary to start most work alone. But I'm tickled to death when I can pull somebody in or join someone, whether it's borrowing poetry or traveling with an associate. Jenny Holzer
It's always good when women win things in fiction because it tends to be more male-dominated, unlike poetry, which is more equal. Carol Ann Duffy
Auden said poetry makes nothing happen. But I wonder if the opposite could be true. It could make something happen. Carol Ann Duffy
I grew up in a bookless house - my parents didn't read poetry, so if I hadn't had the chance to experience it at school I'd never have experienced it. But I loved English, and I was very lucky in that I had inspirational English teachers, Miss Scriven and Mr. Walker, and they liked us to learn poems by heart, which I found I loved doing. Carol Ann Duffy
I think poetry can help children deal with the other subjects on the curriculum by enabling them to see a subject in a new way. Carol Ann Duffy