For a creative writer possession of the "truth" is less important than emotional sincerity.

The received image of a writer is that of an unproductive sensitive who suffers from the vapors, is enslaved by his gonads, falls victim to romantic swoons and passes out at deadlines.

Argentina was interested in presenting itself as a white country, ... Its ideologues and writers put a great emphasis on the yellow fever epidemic and the war, and it was feasible to pretend that the black population had simply disappeared as immigration exploded.

It's a really exciting thing. There is a population of really talented writers ? in America and internationally ? whose voices would never be otherwise heard because the market for poetry is so small. It's a platform.

We of the sinking middle class may sink without further struggles into the working class where we belong, and probably when we get there it will not be so dreadful as we feared, for, after all, we have nothing to lose.

Political chaos is connected with the decay of language... one can probably bring about some improvement by starting at the verbal end.