I had no idea, when I was writing early on, that my poems would be published or read by anyone, never mind people I knew or would meet. I just wrote urgently - naรฏvely, I suppose, looking back.
Denise DuhamelI 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 DuhamelI have no idea, actually, where I fit in, in terms of poetry camps. At AWP conferences, I have been on panels about humor, collaboration, visual poetry, confessional poetry, gender, and the body, as well as tributes to Edward Field and Albert Goldbarth. I felt at home on all of them - most poets straddle more than one school.
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 Duhamel