Fiction Is About Intimacy With Characters, Events,

Philip Larkin Has A Tough Honesty And Sense Of Humor That I Find Irresistible, As A Contemporary Poet.

With Prose You Can Incorporate More Details, Develop Scenes, Sustain The Tension In A Special Way. Prose Has Its Own Speed.

The Great Watershed Of Modern Poetry Is French, More Than English.

Maybe The Example Of Southern Fiction Writing Has Been So Powerful That Southern Poets Have Sort Of Keyed Themselves To That.

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.