“I think that happens for a lot of people, they have this idea that there's only one type of way to write poetry and that you have to have this information. You have to know about meter, you have to know about form, you have to know about iambic pentameter, and all of that.” PeopleThinkingKnowsWayWritingIdeasHappensFormInformationTypeMeter Author:Jacqueline Woodson
“We do inherently know that poetry is about the way we speak. It's about where we pause, where we drop our words in the middle of a sentence. It's about the rhythm and the cadence of the way we speak. It's about putting that down at the end of the day.” KnowsWayEndsSpeakMiddleSentencesRhythmThe End Of The DayPoetry IsPausesOur WordsCadence Author:Jacqueline Woodson
“As a poet who has the tools for interpreting the poem differently, you can begin to deconstruct it. But the human being who's like, "I know about conversation, I know about language, I know about hard times," will approach the poem differently.” KnowsHumansHardLanguageHuman BeingsPoetConversationApproachToolsHard TimesInterpreting Author:Jacqueline Woodson
“I think I had gotten messages really young that poetry wasn't for me, that it was for, basically, some dead white men. My experience and my intellect was on the outside of understanding that. I think that's what's so destructive.” ThinkingMenYoungUnderstandingWhiteMessagesIntellectDestructiveWhite Man Author:Jacqueline Woodson
“I've learned about marrying poetry and prose and making both accessible.” I've LearnedProseMarrying Author:Jacqueline Woodson
“I feel like so much of what I'm doing is making a road where there is no road and inviting people on that road with me. It's scary. It's scary, but I can't listen to the voices that are saying form is the only way, or that there is only this kind of form or that kind of form.” PeopleWayFeelsKindI CanFormVoiceScaryInviting Author:Jacqueline Woodson