“For some reason there's this myth that creativity - [especially] in terms of creative writing - is a gift you either have, or you don't. So when people first start writing, if they write something that's not very good, or if they try and it's difficult, they go, "Oh, I guess I don't have it." That doesn't seem very fair, you have to try and you have to work at it. If we get scared of one bad poem and quit, that's not doing anybody any good.” PeopleIfsWritingTryingFirstsReasonSeemsDifficultTermCreativityCreativeFairsVery GoodScaredMythQuittingCreative Writing Author:Sarah Kay
“The first spoken word poem I ever wrote was when I was 14 and I wrote it because I was accidentally signed up for a teen poetry slam. Because I loved poetry I said that I'd try it out.” TryingFirstsSaidSlamSpoken Word Author:Sarah Kay
“I have always thought of poetry as an act of celebration. Just by nature of writing a poem you are taking the time to dwell on whatever it is that you're writing about...you can be celebrating anger, you can be celebrating sorrow... you are spending the time to focus and observe and try to understand the various parts of being human.” WritingTryingHumansFocusSorrowVariousSpendingCelebrateCelebrationBeing Human Author:Sarah Kay
“I write poetry to figure things out. Any time I’m trying to wrap my head around something, poetry is like a puzzle-solving strategy for me.” WritingTryingFiguresStrategyPoetry IsPuzzlesWraps Author:Sarah Kay
“Sometimes I am puzzling over something for months and months and the poem gets created in small bursts and rewritten a hundred times, and chopped up and put back together, etc. Occasionally, though rarely, a poem just plops out of my head fully-formed. But always it is a blueprint of what my brain is trying to navigate at that moment.” TryingSometimesMomentsTogetherBrainMonthsHundredEtcThat MomentBack TogetherNavigateBlueprintsPuzzling Author:Sarah Kay
“I write about love and family a lot, because I'm always trying to figure those things out. At different points in my life, just when I think I've finished writing about it, the dynamics shift, and then I have a whole new set of questions and worries and misunderstandings to wrestle with.” ThinkingWritingTryingDifferentWholeWorryFiguresFinishedMisunderstandingAlways TryingDynamicsLove And Family Author:Sarah Kay
“Part of what I try to do in schools is take poetry off of a pedestal and make it a little more accessible and approachable.” TryingLittlesSchoolPedestal Author:Sarah Kay
“Nothing is as universal as some good scatalogical humor. I try to shift the frame in which people think about poetry from being distant or "sacred" to being more human, because then I think it becomes easier to feel like poetry belongs to us, is for us, is from us.” PeopleThinkingFeelsTryingHumansEasierUniversalSacredPoetry Is Author:Sarah Kay
“I want to welcome folks to poetry, especially those who may have previously felt unwelcome; I want to celebrate everyone who is trying to make sense of this world through poetry the way I try to.” WorldWayWantTryingMayFeltThis WorldFolksWelcomeCelebrateMake SenseUnwelcome Author:Sarah Kay
“I write poetry to figure things out. It's what I use as a navigating tool in my life, so when there's something that I just can't understand, I have to "poem" my way through it. For that reason I write a lot about family, because my family confuses me and I'm always trying to figure them out. I write a lot about love, because love is continually confusing in all of its many glorious aspects.” WayWritingTryingReasonUseLove IsFiguresAspectToolsMy FamilyMy WayGloriousConfusingAlways TryingAbout Family Author:Sarah Kay
“You can be an artist, work hard for your work and also share while trying to create community with other artists.” TryingHardArtistCommunityShareHard Work Author:Sarah Kay
“But in Hiroshima, some people were wiped clean away, leaving only a wristwatch or a diary page. So no matter that I have inhibitions to fill all my pockets, I keep trying, hoping that one day I'll write a poem I can be proud to let sit in a museum exhibit as the only proof I existed.” PeopleWritingTryingI CanMatterLinesProudOne DayPagesCleanLeavingProofHopefulPocketsMuseumsBe ProudDiariesKeep TryingExhibitsPoignantHiroshimaInhibitions Author:Sarah Kay
“They'll be days like this" my momma said. When you open your hands to catch, and wind up with only blisters and bruises. When you try to step out of the phone booth and try to fly , and the very people you want to save, are the ones standing on your cape. When your boots will fill with rain, and you'll be up to your knees with disappointment And those are the very days you have all the more reason to say "Thank you".” PeopleWantTryingSaidReasonHandsStepsWindRainStandingPhonesDisappointmentKneesBootsBruisesSaying Thank YouCapesMommaBlistersPhone BoothMy MommaDays Like This Author:Sarah Kay
