#poetry

A life is not sufficiently elevated for poetry, unless, of course, the life has been made into an art. ↗

— Mark Strand

#been #course #elevated #into #life

And at least in poetry you should feel free to lie. That is, not to lie, but to imagine what you want, to follow the direction of the poem. ↗

— Mark Strand

#feel #follow #free #imagine #least

I certainly can't speak for all cultures or all societies, but it's clear that in America, poetry serves a very marginal purpose. It's not part of the cultural mainstream. ↗

— Mark Strand

#certainly #clear #cultural #cultures #i

I think the best American poetry is the poetry that utilizes the resources of poetry rather than exploits the defects or triumphs of the poet's personality. ↗

— Mark Strand

#best #defects #exploits #i #i think

I would say that American poetry has always been a poetry of personal testimony. ↗

— Mark Strand

#american #been #i #personal #poetry

Poetry is something that happens in universities, in creative writing programs or in English departments. ↗

— Mark Strand

#creative writing #creative writing programs #departments #english #happens

Poetry is, first and last, language - the rest is filler. ↗

— Mark Strand

#first #language #last #poetry #rest

Usually a life turned into a poem is misrepresented. ↗

— Mark Strand

#into #life #misrepresented #poem #turned

Science fiction, outside of poetry, is the only literary field which has no limits, no parameters whatsoever. ↗

— Theodore Sturgeon

#field #limits #literary #only #outside

I cannot speak for more than an hour exclusively about poetry. At that point, life itself takes over again. ↗

— Wislawa Szymborska

#again #cannot #exclusively #hour #i