Writers often have that one moment where they finally knew they’d “made it” — a story in the New Yorker, for instance, a poem in the Paris Review, or their first published book. What’s yours?



Why does poetry persist?



How do you know a poem is finished?



Choose one other poet. What’s one quality of their poetry you wish was in yours?


Is there such a thing as the perfect poem?



What’s the most misunderstood form of poetry? Can you offer a defence?



What’s more important, the first line of a poem or the last, and why?



Seamus Heaney once praised the rapper Eminem for his “verbal energy.” What 
are your thoughts on hip-hop?


What’s the largest audience you’ve ever read to?