But the sensibility of the writer, whether fiction or poetry, comes from paying attention. I tell my students that writing doesn't begin when you sit down to write. It's a way of being in the world, and the essence of it is paying attention.

I admit that for me love goes deeper than the struggle, or maybe what I mean is, love is the deeper struggle.

It's like my whole world is coming undone, but when I write, my pencil is a needle and thread, and I'm stitching the scraps back together.

The elasticity of imagination and compassion is what writing and reading promote.

Don't plan it all. Let life surprise you a little.

There is no end to what can be said about the world

Every writer can tell you that a book is only truly alive when it finds passionate readers who bring it alive in their imaginations.