Under adversity, under oppression, the words begin to fail, the easy words begin to fail. In order to convey things accurately, the human being is almost forced to find the most precise words possible, which is a precondition for literature. — Rita Dove Copy Share Image
Have you ever heard a good joke? If you've ever heard someone just right, with the right pacing, then you're already on the way to poetry. It's about using words in very precise ways and using gesture. — 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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
My first advice would be to read, read, read, which sounds interesting coming in a digital age, but it's so much easier to listen… — Rita Dove Copy Share
To me, a poem is almost like someone whispering to another person, or you hear the whispering in your head. I hope with my… — Rita Dove Copy Share
I was not interested in doing the plot of OEDIPUS in blackface. I did wonder, what would these people have been like if they… — Rita Dove Copy Share
