If we really want to be full and generous in spirit, we have no choice but to trust at some level.

For years, I had heard about the lack of interest in literature in the U.S. and I had complained about the lack of respect artists got here. In my heart, I failed to understand how people could fail to be moved by art.

My father is a chemist, my mother was a homemaker. My parents instilled in us the feeling that learning was the most exciting thing that could happen to you, and it never ends.

I think reading Shakespeare's plays when I was young was extremely important. He had the ability to make utter strangers come alive.

It's unfortunate that sometimes in schools, there's this need to have things quantified and graded.

I have a high guilt quotient. A poem can go through as many as 50 or 60 drafts. It can take from a day to two years - or longer.

I thought, after the Pulitzer, at least nothing will surprise me quite that much in my life. And another one happened. It was quite amazing.