When I started to be a writer, I was not going to run the risk of boring you.

I guess it's ridiculously romantic, but I wanted to be a full tilt, sink-or-swim writer.

I learned my values. It's better to be poor than to be beholden. Wealth is not the object of life. You should be polite as long as possible, and when you can't be polite anymore, don't run.

I don't want to be callous about it, but we all seemed to get over the Oklahoma bombing pretty quickly, and we're never going to get over 9/11.

I think my grandmother Woodrell was most responsible for my becoming a writer. She wasn't quite literate, but was very proud that she attended school as far as the third grade. She worked as a maid, housekeeper and cook.

When poetry is on the money, 12 words can slay you. I admire that greatly.