Neither of my parents has been very sensitive about my writing.

With prose you can incorporate more details, develop scenes, sustain the tension in a special way. Prose has its own speed.

I have taught students from the New York City area so long I have a special affinity and rapport with them. It surprises me sometimes that there are students from anywhere else.

Pound's translation of Chinese poetry was maybe the most important thing I read. Eliot a little bit later.

I encourage students to pursue an idea far enough so they can see what the cliches and stereotypes are. Only then do they begin to hit pay dirt.

In the best fiction, the language itself can become almost invisible.

Fiction is about intimacy with characters, events, places.