When I first began publishing, I was writing short stories and novels about subjects that only men were writing about -- violence and men's lives, |
When people say there is too much violence in [my books], what they are saying is there is too much reality in life. |
When poets write about food it is usually celebratory. Food as the thing-in-itself, but also the thoughtful preparation of meals, the serving of meals, meals communally shared: a sense of the sacred in the profane. |
When you're 50 you start thinking about things you haven't thought about before. I used to think getting old was about vanity -- but actually it's about losing people you love. Getting wrinkles is trivial. |
Where we come from in America no longer signifies. It's where we go, and what we do when we get there, that tells us who we are. |