I think that it's more likely that in my 60s and 70s I will be writing poetry rather than fiction.

You have to really dive deep back into yourself and get rid of so much modern analytical categorization. It's one of the great things poetry does.

It was less a literary thing than a linguistic, philosophical preoccupation... discovering how far you can go with language to create immediate, elementary experience.

I have taught students from the New York City area so long I have a special affinity and rapport with them. It surprises me sometimes that there are students from anywhere else.

Distance not only gives nostalgia, but perspective, and maybe objectivity.

A lot of my students are Asian-American, and it has been thrilling to watch them break through the stereotypes into something alive and surprising.

Maybe the example of Southern fiction writing has been so powerful that Southern poets have sort of keyed themselves to that.

I seem to keep returning to my father in poems because his personality was so extreme, so driven. He did everything to excess.

Fiction is about intimacy with characters, events, places.

Some people want to call me an Appalachian writer, even though I know some people use regional labels to belittle.

The young people have MTV and rock and roll. Why would they go to read poetry? Poetry belongs to the Stone Age. It awakens in us perceptions that go back to those times.

Life without a pasta machine is like life without music!

Engaging solely to validate your opinion takes away from the character building process.

I love no woman, for love is a serious business, not a jest.

I hope I am remembered by my children as a good father.

When in doubt or danger, run in circles, scream and shout.

Surely there must be a better gift God could have given us than life?

I was never good at sports. I was never good at exams, because they didn't understand dyslexia.

I don't mind arguing with myself. It's when I lose that it bothers me.

We must be faithful to the present moment or we will frustrate the plan of God for our lives.

Even to get Yahya Khan to reason was an impossible task - it only made you lose your temper.