Writers are always at the edge of the inferno, and the fire is licking at our toes. Luckily, this turns us on!

In a world where women work three times as hard for half as much, our achievement has been denigrated, both marriage and divorce have turned against us, our motherhood has been used as an obstacle to our success, our passion as a trap, our empathy for others as an excuse to underpay us.

Turning fifty ... is like flying: hours of boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror.

I think poetry is the best thing I do. It's certainly the purest. I seem to switch gears without too much trouble. Non-fiction is in many ways the easiest to write.

Art keeps one young, I think, because it keeps one perpetually a beginner, perpetually a child.

The absolute bedrock of our independence is having control over our own bodies. You cannot be independent if the government or someone else says whether or not you can use birth control. Unless you're in charge of your body, you're not in charge of anything. I think that's really the bottom line of feminism.

And what if I don't want forgiveness?