Anne Stevenson
Anne Stevenson
Anne Stevensonis an American-British poet and writer...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPoet
Date of Birth3 January 1933
CountryUnited States of America
thinking poet should
I think a poet, like a painter, should be a craftsperson.
memorable ideas giving
I like rhyme because it is memorable, I like form because having to work to a pattern gives me original ideas.
musical trying ears
I work very hard on all my poems, but most of the work consists of trying not to sound as if I had worked. I try to make them sound as natural as possible, but within a quite strict form, which to my ears has a lot to do with musical rhythm and sound.
jobs children dirty
You've got criminal courts and child welfare officials refusing to do their jobs and protect children so they can shift the cases over to family court where predatory professionals can turn a dirty buck off the atrocities committed against children.
literature loyal austen
I remain loyal to Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert in music and to Shakespeare and Jane Austen in literature.
writing meditation used
I write, or used to write, to explain to myself situations I couldn't otherwise solve or understand. Meditation comes very naturally to me.
horror century glad
I am now seventy, rather glad, really, that I won't live to see the horrors to come in the 21st century.
canvas violent slap
I don't like poetry that just slaps violent words on a canvas, as it were.
criticism poet should
Poets should ignore most criticism and get on with making poetry.
criticism too-much kind
There is far too much literary criticism of the wrong kind. That is why I never could have survived as an academic.
hobbies tire
A hobbyhorse can be a tiring ride for nonenthusiasts.
philosophy thinking dying
democracy is dying. We are ruled by faceless bureaucrats and lecherous puritans. ... You think about it. 'All right for me but not for you' is their philosophy.
writing feelings mind
Yes, I do often write poems from the mind, but I hope I don't ignore feelings and emotions.
laughing confusion unhappy
My earlier poems were sadder than my poems are today, perhaps because I wrote them in confusion or when I was unhappy. But I am not a melancholy person, quite the contrary, no one enjoys laughing more than I do.