I try to show what it is about language and music that enthralls, because I think those are the two elements of poetry.
Rita DoveI think reading Shakespeare's plays when I was young was extremely important. He had the ability to make utter strangers come alive.
Rita DoveThere are distinct duties of a poet laureate. I plan a reading series at the Library of Congress and advise the librarian. The rest is how I want to promote poetry
Rita DoveI loved to read, but I always thought that the dream was too far away. The person who had written the book was a god, it wasn't a person.
Rita DoveWe tend to be so bombarded with information, and we move so quickly, that there's a tendency to treat everything on the surface level and process things quickly. This is antithetical to the kind of openness and perception you have to have to be receptive to poetry.poetry seems to exist in a parallel universe outside daily life in America.
Rita DoveMy inspiration comes from everywhere, just walking down the street and I never know where it's going to come from, so I keep a notebook with me at all times and the only criteria for anything making it into that notebook is if it stops me in my tracks for even an instant, if it catches my eye or my ear and I just write it down.
Rita Dove