Rita Dove Quotes & Sayings (Page 5)

“I think one of the things that people tend to forget is that poets do write out of life. It isn't some set piece that then gets put up on the shelf, but that the impetus, the real instigation for poetry is everything that's happening around us.”

“Instead of trying to come up and pontificate on what literature is, you need to talk with children, to teachers, and make sure they get poetry in the curriculum early.”

“To write for PC reasons, because you think you ought to be dealing with this subject, is never going to yield anything that is really going to matter to anyone else. It has to matter to you.”

“I didn't know writers could be real live people, because I never knew any writers.”

“I was appointed Poet Laureate. It came totally out of the blue because most Poet Laureates had been considerably older than I. It was not something that I even had begun to dream about!”

“I see a resurgence of interest in poetry. I am less optimistic about the prospects for the arts when it comes to federal funding.”

“I think reading Shakespeare's plays when I was young was extremely important. He had the ability to make utter strangers come alive.”

“My favorite poets may not be your bread and butter. I have more favorite poems than favorite poets.”

“I have a high guilt quotient. A poem can go through as many as 50 or 60 drafts. It can take from a day to two years-or longer.”

“I think that you certainly don't have to be aged and travel the world to write a poem.”