I love John Ashbery. He's the - really the poet laureate of English language poetry, whether he's given that or not, he is to me.

I start with actors that I know personally or I know their work, and there are things about their work or their presence or their own personality that make a character, that exaggerates some qualities and suppresses other qualities. It's always a real collaboration for me.

I'm not putting down anyone that does look at their work in that way, but for me I am a hardcore amateur.

Select only things to steal that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is nonexistent

I think of poets as outlaw visionaries in a way.

The beauty of ideas is that they are like waves in the ocean and they connect with things that came before them, and I think it is very important to embrace things that interest you and influence you, and incorporate them into what you do, as all artists have always done. The ones that say they don’t, are lying. Or are afraid that their work won’t be seen as being original, somehow.

I like repetition, but I really, really like variations, synchronistic things that happen where you're not really thinking about them.