I have always wanted what I have now come to call the voice of personal narrative. That has always been the appealing voice in poetry. It started for me lyrically in Shakespeares sonnets. – Diane Wakoski
I think thats what poetry does. It allows people to come together and identify with a common thing that is outside of themselves, but which they identify with from the interior. – Diane Wakoski
I definitely wish to distinguish American poetry from British or other English language poetry. – Diane Wakoski
I dont like political poetry, and I dont write it. If this question was pointing towards that, I think it is missing the point of the American tradition, which is always apolitical, even when the poetry comes out of politically active writers. – Diane Wakoski
I never thought Id be doing poetry books. I never really studied poetry. But the first one I did was after my mother died, and I realized that people sort of think and talk about her style and fashion, but in fact, what made her the person she was was really her love of reading and ideas. – Caroline Kennedy