“I'm always writing towards a discovery. When I'm writing poems in particular, I'm often writing because a few images coalesced in my mind and I thought, "I wonder why these images are abrading against each other. I wonder what happens if put them in a poem and explore them." I'm trying to learn something every time I write a poem.” IfsWritingTryingMindHappensWonderParticularDiscoveryWriting Poems Author:Alison Hawthorne Deming
“I'm trying to learn something about making a balance between the inner life and the outer life. I wouldn't write if I didn't need to be making those discoveries, if I didn't feel the perpetual ignorance of being a human being.” IfsNeedsFeelsWritingTryingHumansHuman BeingsIgnoranceBalanceDiscoveryPerpetualInner Life Author:Alison Hawthorne Deming
“I had real concerns about the relationship between nature and culture and places I wanted to write about... I thought, well, maybe I should try prose. It was a real struggle to begin because, first of all, there were so many words on the page - it was terrifying... Beginning was awful.” ShouldWritingTryingFirstsWellsRealWantedCultureStrugglePagesConcernAwfulProse Author:Alison Hawthorne Deming
“I'm always trying to ask myself both "Who am I as an individual?" and "What are the cultural forces that have made me the person that I am?" How can I understand myself as a cultural creature as well as an individual? I'm really obsessed with that question, and always asking my students to consider it.” TryingWellsPersonsMadeAsksIndividualForceStudentsCreaturesAskingObsessedAlways Trying Author:Alison Hawthorne Deming
“I'm always trying to bring as many poetic properties as possible to the essay without making it too overburdened.” TryingPropertyPoeticEssaysAlways Trying Author:Alison Hawthorne Deming
