“But I don't think that poetry is a good, to use a contemporary word, venue, for current events.” ThinkingUseLiteratureEventsCurrentsContemporaryPoetry IsVenuesCurrent Events Author:Diane Wakoski
“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.” IfsThinkingWritingPoliticalLiteratureMissingTraditionActivePointingAmerican TraditionApolitical Author:Diane Wakoski
“I think one of the things that language poets are very involved with is getting away from conventional ideas of beauty, because those ideas contain a certain attitude toward women, certain attitudes toward sex, certain attitudes toward race, etc.” ThinkingIdeasCertainLiteratureLanguageSexRaceAttitudePoetInvolvedEtcGet AwayConventional Author:Diane Wakoski
“My poems are almost all written as Diane. I don't have any problems with that, and if other women choose to identify with this, I think that's terrific.” IfsThinkingProblemWomenWrittenTerrific Author:Diane Wakoski
“I'm perfectly happy when I look out at an audience and it's all women. I always think it's kind of odd, but then, more women than men, I think, read and write poetry.” ThinkingMenWritingLooksKindWomenAudienceOdd Author:Diane Wakoski
“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.” PeopleIfsThinkingReadingAsksReaderResponseVery GoodCriticalShyCriteriaPresenting Author:Diane Wakoski
“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.” ThinkingYearsUseLiteratureLanguageInterestingPoetExcitingComplexesPoetry IsMost InterestingGreat PoetGreat PoetryYeats Author:Diane Wakoski
“I think that's what poetry does. It allows people to come together and identify with a common thing that is outside of themselves, but which they identify with from the interior.” PeopleThinkingDoeTogetherCommonInteriorsCommon Things Author:Diane Wakoski
“Other people have noticed more of an evolution than I have and so I'll try to tell you where I'm coming from and also relate it to what I think other people perceive.” PeopleThinkingTryingLiteratureEvolutionRelatePerceive Author:Diane Wakoski
