It was less a literary thing than a linguistic, philosophical preoccupation... discovering how far you can go with language to create immediate, elementary experience.

Some people want to call me an Appalachian writer, even though I know some people use regional labels to belittle.

In the late 60s and early 70s, I did get interested in voices, and in narration and embodying the voice, making the poem sound like a real person talking.

It was less a literary thing than a linguistic, philosophical preoccupation... discovering how far you can go with language to create immediate, elementary experience.

Some people swear by writing courses, but whether it really helps American poetry, I have doubts.

If people associate me with a region, that's fine with me.

I learned to impersonate the kind of person that talks about poetry. It comes from teaching, I think.