We have such a finite amount of hours on this planet, and there is just no excuse for living a mundane, predictable life in life.

I feel in poetry there aren't that many rules that you need to absolutely live by depending on your style of poetry.

I know that there's this one Albanian myth that's always reflected on, and I think it reflects on the actual core culture. That myth is called The Besa. B-E-S-A. The Besa is a word that Albanians use to mean avow, but it's such a strong promise, that even past death, one cannot break that promise. It is unfathomable. So if you give someone your besa, life or death, heaven or hell, you have to fulfill that besa.

For me especially, I always need that literature medium.

I'm an actress, primarily. I love to write poetry. I've been writing poetry since I was 12 years old.

I always feel vulnerable talking about the poetry aspect of my career because it's little diary entries that I need to sometimes close read, and to reveal that much, it's a bit nerve-racking.

While some mothers sing lullabies to their children, my mother read me poetry. And to this day, I associate my strongest and most insistent feelings with words lyrically organized on a page.