The poet’s job is to put into words those feelings we all have that are so deep, so important, and yet so difficult to name, to tell the truth in such a beautiful way, that people cannot live without it. –Jane Kenyon
When a woman tells the truth she is creating the possibility for more truth around her. –Adrienne Rich
We have a motto at Naropa: “Keep the world safe for poetry.” It’s humorous but has some real bite to it. If the world is safe for poetry, it can be safe for many other things.
–Anne Waldman
To help you understand what it takes to have the kind of success Ann’s enjoying right now, I asked her a few questions, and here’s what she said.
In spoken Chinese, everything is gender neutral. There is no she or he. The more I think about this now, the more I like this about the language. Man or woman? Does it matter? A person. –Weike Wang
A long time ago I stopped wondering why there were so many crazy people. What surprises me now is that there are so many sane ones. –Rachel Khong
In our country we call this type of mother love teng ai. My son has told me that in men’s writing it is composed of two characters. The first means pain; the second means love. That is a mother’s love. –Lisa See
It is not an act of bravery to try to save your own village. It is an instinct to protect what you possess. Bravery is when you step in to help when you have nothing to lose. –Gail Tsukiyama
Sometimes you need to scorch everything to the ground and start over. After burning the soil is richer, and new things can grow. People are like that, too. They start over. They find a way. –Celeste Ng
“The neighbors lost their white cat,” my husband said, “maybe you could keep an eye out for it.” “Sure,” I said, “if it walks by the couch, I’ll certainly alert someone.” The […]
