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Quote by Kevin Powers

“In a lot of ways, the task at hand for any poem is to approach something that defies exactness or definition with a kind of exactness or precision.”

Author

Kevin Powers

Kevin Powers, born on July 11, 1980, is an accomplished American novelist known for his works set against the backdrop of war. His writing delves into the complexities of human nature and the harsh realities of conflict, earning him critical acclaim and numerous literary awards. more

“There's something immediate about the experience of reading a poem. It makes sense in my own mind, but I'm trying to figure out a way to articulate it... It's like looking at a painting: you're able to take in the totality of the work all at once, and so processing whatever information that painting is giving you is almost secondary to simply apprehending what's in front of you.”

Giving Trying Mind Reading Painting Make Sense

Author:Kevin Powers

“There's something immediate about the experience of reading a poem - whether it's the music or some other element of it - that just seems to access another part of the brain. You know, Charles Olson talks about this transfer of energy that happens between the writer and the reader of the poem. I guess there's something essential to me about acknowledging upfront the immensity of it - the difficulty of it - and even allowing that to be the subject.”

Reading Energy Brain Difficulty

Author:Kevin Powers

“Unfortunately there are too many examples of members of Congress and other elected officials using language, referring to your opponents in ways that you would have never done before, ascribing the worst motives to your opponents, and assuming that other Americans are the enemies. And that's just not the way it used to be. And I don't think it can be that way in the future.”

Thinking Done Language Enemy Worst Assuming Motive

Author:Jeff Flake

“There are definitely connections between poems, but I wanted each to stand on its own. I guess it goes back to the idea of trying to zoom in and out, and to modulate, so there are different ways of looking at any experience for the reader. Even having short poems and long poems - there has to be some kind of variation in the experience of reading as a whole.”

Trying Kind Long Different Reading

Author:Kevin Powers