“Listen how they say your name. If they can't say that right, there's no way they're going to know how to treat you proper, neither.” IfsKnowsWayNamesKnow HowTreats Author:Rita Dove
“I'm never quite sure how the poem is going to resolve itself and that I'm always in some way surprised. I make a discovery in a poem as I write it.” WayWritingDiscoveryResolveNever Quit Author:Rita Dove
“If I begin writing a poem that means I'm intrigued in some way by whatever it's about and that if I'm not trying to find something new and pushing the envelope in the poem I can't expect my reader to be particularly excited about it either.” IfsWayWritingTryingMeanI CanReaderExcitedPushingSomething NewIntriguedEnvelopesPushing The Envelope Author:Rita Dove
“I think if you put something in a file that says "war poems" or "love poems" that you already restrict the way in which the poem might move.” IfsThinkingWayWarMightMovingFilesLove Poems Author:Rita Dove
“In fact, sometimes traveling the world is a way of not writing a poem, but it's the quality of experience. It's being able to experience something and when you begin to write about it be able to apply the tools that you need for writing.” WorldWayNeedsWritingSometimesFactsAbleQualityToolsTime Travel Author:Rita Dove
“As an African-American, as a woman I think that I've been sensitized to the way in which history privileges the white male and the way in which certain aspects of history, the things that we are taught in school, the things that are handed down never, never entered the picture though they might have been very important.” ThinkingWayHas BeensImportantMightSchoolCertainWhiteTaughtAspectMalesPrivilegeAfrican AmericanMight Have Been Author:Rita Dove
“At the very beginning when I begin writing a poem I try not to think of the audience or anyone at all except for trying to get at the very center of what is driving that poem. In a way it's like analyzing myself.” ThinkingWayWritingTryingAudienceDrivingAnalyzing Author:Rita Dove
“I've always been intrigued by the way history works, the way we decide what is mentioned.” WayIntrigued Author:Rita Dove
“Have you ever heard a good joke? If you've ever heard someone just right, with the right pacing, then you're already on the way to poetry. It's about using words in very precise ways and using gesture.” IfsWayHeardJokesGesturesPrecisePacingUsing Words Author:Rita Dove
