On poetry:
The best poems are purely personal, but they should not
leave the reader saying, “So what?”
Reach toward bridges between the writer and reader.
"Create an opportunity for shared experiences in places that
are unexpected and unlikely, where beauty and dignity reveal themselves."
Performance can lift one out of oneself.
Cultivate individual sensibilities.
On racial violence, he said that it’s not just the province
of poets of color to write about it. “It’s everybody’s job to address it.”
Be part of change.
On memoir:
Writing his memoir was like watching a film of his childhood unfold.
Tap into memory in detail.
Memory and imagination become close together.
How the book felt was most important.
Art is a refuge.
After his first year of grief over the death of his partner,
prose opened up more expansive ways to express himself.
“Joy resides in the present, in the now.”
Next week I'll share my notes on what the panel of professionals had to say about the five submissions selected for discussion during the Unbound Book Festival's First Page Rodeo .
