A lot of my students are Asian-American, and it has been thrilling to watch them break through the stereotypes into something alive and surprising.

I don't think American poetry has gotten any better in the past 35 years. Oddly enough, creative writing programs seem to have been good for fiction, and I would not have predicted that.

The Black Mountain poet I like most is the early Creeley. Those early poems seem very lyrical and very traditional, with a lot of voice and character.

A lot of my students are Asian-American, and it has been thrilling to watch them break through the stereotypes into something alive and surprising.

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.

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

Southern poets are still writing narrative poems, poems in forms, dramatic poems.