“I can manage a prose format as long as I keep closer to Laurence Sterne than to Henry James.” LongI CanManageProseFormat Author:David Antin
“I had no idea where these kids at a small private college in the San Fernando Valley were coming from, why they were coming to hear me, or what they needed to know.” KnowsIdeasKidsCollegeNeededNo IdeaValleys Author:David Antin
“I didn't think about whether I was writing poems. I was thinking. And the more I was thinking, the more there was I didn't understand.” ThinkingWritingWriting Poems Author:David Antin
“I hardly remember how I started to write poetry. It's hard to imagine what I thought poetry could do.” WritingHardRememberImagine Author:David Antin
“I have spoken to expert audiences occasionally, but then no audience is expert over the whole range of things I want to explore.” WantWholeAudienceRangeExperts Author:David Antin
“My way of thinking is very particular and concrete. It doesn't follow a continuous path.” ThinkingWayPathParticularMy WayConcreteWay Of Thinking Author:David Antin
“My mother turned into a professional widow. She couldnt understand why I wanted to be an engineer; she thought I should be a chicken farmer.” ShouldWantedMotherChickensFarmersEngineersWidows Author:David Antin
“There are editing procedures for talks just as there are editing procedures in jazz improvisation.” JazzEditingProceduresImprovisationJazz Improvisation Author:David Antin
“You pay your money, you take your choice. I get the audience my language attracts and I lose the ones it repels.” ChoicesLanguageLosesPayAudience Author:David Antin
“I wanted to be an inventor, whatever I thought that meant then. I guess I was thinking of Edison or maybe James Watt. Or maybe even Newton.” ThinkingWantedInventorNewtonJames Watt Author:David Antin