I was completely devoted to reading and books from the age of seven. It took until I was 18 to have the confidence to write poetry.
Christopher Koch
Poetry was the first step, and from the age of 18, there was nothing else I wanted to do.
Deals are my art form. Other people paint beautifully on canvas or write wonderful poetry. I like making deals, preferably big deals. That's how... →
Ed Koch
As for political poetry, as it's usually defined, it seems there's very little good political poetry.
Kenneth Koch
I was excited by what my painter friends were doing, and they seemed to be interested in our poetry too, and that was a wonderful little, fizzy sort... →
I was influenced by surrealist poetry and painting as were thousands of other people, and it seems to me to have become a part of the way I write... →
I wonder if I ever thought of an ideal reader... I guess when I was in my 20s and in New York and maybe even in my early 30s, I would write for my... →
I define poetry as celebration and confrontation. When we witness something, are we responsible for what we witness? That's an on-going... →
Yusef Komunyakaa
Students often have such a lofty idea of what a poem is, and I want them to realize that their own lives are where the poetry comes from. The most... →
Poetry helps me understand who I am. It helps me understand the world around me. But above all, what poetry has taught me is the fact that I need to... →