In My Family In Particular, I Think,

When You're Going Through Something, Whether It's A Wonderful Thing Like Having A Child Or A Sad Thing Like Losing Somebody, You Often Feel Like 'oh My God, I'm So Overwhelmed; I'm Dealing With This Huge Thing On My Own.' In Fact, Poetry's A Nice Reminder That, No, Everybody Goes Through It. These Are Universal Experiences.

In A Funny Way, Poems Are Suited To Modern Life. They're Short, They're Intense. Nobody Has Time To Read A 700-page Book. People Read Magazines, And A Poem Takes Less Time Than An Article.

I May, And I Think I Represent A Tradition That Means A Lot To Me, Which Has Really Always Been About Fighting For Others, For Middle-class Families, For Working Class - For Working People, You Know, And That's A Tradition And A Commitment That I Take Very Seriously.

Going Into Politics Is Something People Have Asked Me About Forever.

I Never Thought I'd 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.