I tend to overuse the word "project" only because "book" is terrifying while I'm still in the middle of something. A project can fail. I don't want a book to fail.

I turned to human suffering because - this may sound odd - animal suffering is more difficult for me to deal with.

Revision is a good impulse to have.

I figure I write for people who are intelligent enough to do some labor. Lazy readers are not my ideal readers.

One of the things I'm constantly telling my students is that they're never going to write a poem everyone gets, or if they do, they've failed. They should leave someone behind every time.

Human suffering is articulated in language; communication is how we seek help, consolation, etc.

I pay editors. I never ask friends or colleagues to work for free.