Writer and activist, little rascal.
Here is an interview, with Salon: When I write the first sentence, I really don’t know if I’m making a poem or a story. But by the time I’m at my third line, I know what it’s going to be, it has made its own form.
And another: Whatever your calling is, whether it’s as a plumber or an artist, you have to make sure there’s a little more justice in the world when you leave it than when you found it. Most writers do that naturally, see that more lives are illuminated, try to understand what is not understood and see what hasn’t been seen.
And finally, this: I think more people would do really beautiful work if they realized how much work was involved. Their work would begin to shine and they�d be surprised. The thing is that your language at some point in your life is clear and simple and truthful, and if you wrote it down, it would be beautiful � beauty�s truth, truth�s beauty, I always say that that�s true (laughter) �but what happens is that most people…go to school and their language is immediately spoiled, if their parents haven�t already spoiled it for them. The written language is immediately taken away from the spoken language. But if people don�t go too far away from their own true language, they can really write. But mostly people do. And then it�s a question of going back. That�s why children�s writing is so often so beautiful, because it�s so close to their own true tongues. On the other hand, it�s very boring because they have no experience in life.
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