The First Book: Go ahead, it won't bite. Well... maybe a little. More a nip, like. A tingle. It's pleasurable, really. You… — Rita Dove Copy Share Image
My first advice would be to read, read, read, which sounds interesting coming in a digital age, but it's so much easier… — Rita Dove Copy Share Image
To me, a poem is almost like someone whispering to another person, or you hear the whispering in your head. I hope… — Rita Dove Copy Share Image
If I begin writing a poem that means I'm intrigued in some way by whatever it's about and that if I'm not… — Rita Dove Copy Share Image
Instead of trying to come up and pontificate on what literature is, you need to talk with children, to teachers, and make… — Rita Dove Copy Share Image
Poetry of all the forms of literature I think is the most suited for the digital age and for the shorter attention… — Rita Dove Copy Share Image
I loved to read, but I always thought that the dream was too far away. The person who had written the book… — Rita Dove Copy Share Image
Crassly put: When I write, I am trying not to bore myself and my readers. — Rita Dove Copy Share Image
From the time I began to read, as a child, I loved to feel their heft in my hand and the warm… — Rita Dove Copy Share Image
I think that when a poem can move readers across generations and across its specific class or race then it becomes truly… — Rita Dove Copy Share Image
Going to the library was the one place we got to go without asking for permission. And they let us choose what… — Rita Dove Copy Share Image
For years, I had heard about the lack of interest in literature in the U.S. and I had complained about it. I… — Rita Dove Copy Share Image
I always loved science. And in fact, I got a science award in high school. I mean, I loved science, but I… — Rita Dove Copy Share Image
If they don't read, if they don't love reading; if they don't find themselves compulsively reading, I don't think they're really a… — Rita Dove Copy Share Image
For years, I had heard about the lack of interest in literature in the U.S. and I had complained about the lack… — Rita Dove Copy Share Image
I think children have talent and insight, but it gets beaten out of them. — Rita Dove Copy Share Image
Courage has nothing to do with our determination to be great. It has to do with what we decide in that moment when we… — Rita Dove Copy Share Image
My inspiration comes from everywhere, just walking down the street and I never know where it's going to come from, so I keep a… — Rita Dove Copy Share Image
To write for PC reasons, because you think you ought to be dealing with this subject, is never going to yield anything that is… — Rita Dove Copy Share Image
All of us have moments in our childhood where we come alive for the first time. And we go back to those moments and… — Rita Dove Copy Share Image
The First Book: Go ahead, it won't bite. Well... maybe a little. More a nip, like. A tingle. It's pleasurable, really. You see, it… — Rita Dove Copy Share Image
Sometimes a word is found so right it trembles at the slightest explanation. — Rita Dove Copy Share Image
Listen how they say your name. If they can't say that right, there's no way they're going to know how to treat you proper,… — Rita Dove Copy Share Image
People write me from all over the country, asking me, and sometimes even telling me, what they think a poet laureate should do. I… — Rita Dove Copy Share Image
There are distinct duties of a poet laureate. I plan a reading series at the Library of Congress and advise the librarian. The rest… — Rita Dove Copy Share Image
