“Poems allow me to work toward momentary clarity or to see a problem through a metaphor that makes it something I can work upon or live with in a way that always feels like a blessing or some kind of…

“So I have deep empathy for people who are shook, whether because they’re young or they just haven’t been especially into politics until fairly recently. I get that, I really do. But it’s important to channel that initial shocked panic.…

“Previously, I found there was so much anxiety, like, “I’ve written this entire thing. Am I gonna get a book deal or is all that effort just going to go down the toilet?” Because I knew the book was going…

“I have learned over the years to control what I am willing to let go of. What I mean by that is, I think writers often underestimate how once you put something into print, it is no longer yours. It…

“I always thought that Patricia Highsmith was such a genius at this in the Ripley books. Ripley is such an unlikeable person, but you so desperately want him to get the things that he wants, even though he’s this horrendous,…

“ I wrote it as a kind of narrative so that people feel that they are in the room with Baldwin. I want them to feel that they are down by the waterfront. I want them to feel that they…