Creative writing and literacy go hand and hand.

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

I wish someone had told me that my stories are really mine to tell. In other words, anything that I think is important or that has moved me has the ability to move somebody else.

I never think of my audience when I write a poem. I try to write out of whatever is haunting me; in order for a poem to feel authentic, I have to feel I'm treading on very dangerous ground, which can mean that the resulting revelations may prove hurtful to other people. The time for thinking about that kind of guilt or any collective sense of responsibility, however, occurs much later in the creative process, after the poem is finished.

Listen how they say your name. If they can't say that right, there's no way they're going to know how to treat you proper, neither.

I prefer to explore the most intimate moments, the smaller, crystallized details we all hinge our lives on.

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