People write me from all over the country, asking me, and sometimes even telling me, what they think a poet laureate should… — Rita Dove Copy Share Image
I was not interested in doing the plot of OEDIPUS in blackface. I did wonder, what would these people have been like… — Rita Dove Copy Share Image
I grew up in Ohio, where civil-rights accomplishments had already begun to accelerate before Martin Luther King appeared. In hindsight, we know… — Rita Dove Copy Share Image
It makes me furious to hear haters of all skin colors - especially Christian, Jewish, and Muslim fundamentalists - deride other people… — Rita Dove Copy Share Image
The American Dream is a phrase we'll have to wrestle with all of our lives. It means a lot of things to… — Rita Dove Copy Share Image
I think one of the things that people tend to forget is that poets do write out of life. It isn't some… — Rita Dove Copy Share Image
I didn't know writers could be real live people, because I never knew any writers. — 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 never think of my audience when I write a poem. I try to write out of whatever is haunting me; in… — Rita Dove Copy Share Image
I believe people may have a predisposition for artistic creativity. It doesn't mean they're going to make it. — 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
