Anne Stevenson Quotes & Sayings

“A poem might be defined as thinking about feelings - about human feelings and frailties.”

“I write, or used to write, to explain to myself situations I couldn't otherwise solve or understand. Meditation comes very naturally to me.”

“Each word bears its weight, so you have to read my poems quite slowly.”

“Peter Lucas and I live in Durham but spend a great of time in North Wales, where we have a cottage in the mountains, and in Vermont, USA, with my sister - who is a children's writer married to a poet.”

“I remain loyal to Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert in music and to Shakespeare and Jane Austen in literature.”

“I like rhyme because it is memorable, I like form because having to work to a pattern gives me original ideas.”

“I married a young Englishman in Cambridge in 1955 and have lived in Britain every since.”

“There is far too much literary criticism of the wrong kind. That is why I never could have survived as an academic.”

“Sylvia Plath was just a month and a half older than I, and when she committed suicide I was only 30 - and very shocked and sorry. I never knew her personally.”

“Yes, I do often write poems from the mind, but I hope I don't ignore feelings and emotions.”