“The fact of the matter is I always have a really high sense of responsibility to the reader, whether it's a few readers that I get or a lot of readers, which I was lucky enough to get with 'Olive.' I feel responsible to them, to deliver something as truthful and straight as I can.” FeelsI CanMatterEnoughFactsResponsibilityReaderLuckyResponsibleTruthfulOlivesSense Of Responsibility Author:Elizabeth Strout
“Joy is a part of my process. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that poetry, as a practice, necessitates a sense of joy. It's exhilarating to come into contact with the things we write into being. And a real sense of play and abandon even when we are relying on hard-won technique, and even when the aim is deadly serious. How often do we get the excuse to stop, think, and then stop thinking altogether and try to listen to what sits behind our outside of our thoughts? Poets are lucky.” ThinkingWritingTryingRealHardPlayFactsJoyPoetryProcessBehindsPracticeSeriousPoetLuckyAimExcuseTechniqueContactAbandonOur ThoughtsExhilarating Author:Tracy K. Smith