I started wanting desperately to say something, to make a point, to be heard - and I still feel that way. Free verse served me best when I embarked on poetry.
Denise DuhamelAfter my marriage ended, I had an urge to skip that part of my life completely in terms of poetry, not publish anything at all about it.
Denise DuhamelI don't know if there are topics that I unconsciously avoid, but as soon as they pop up in my writing, I try to take on those topics, whether or not I publish the poems.
Denise DuhamelWhile poetry was less professionalized than it is now, I still had this urge to win prizes and see my work in magazines, to get an "A," as though poetry could be graded. I wish I had been more patient and less frantic about getting published.
Denise Duhamel