Robert MorganI think that it's more likely that in my 60s and 70s I will be writing poetry rather than fiction.373Thought
Robert MorganA lot of my students are Asian-American, and it has been thrilling to watch them break through the stereotypes into something alive and surprising.363Life
Robert MorganI encourage students to pursue an idea far enough so they can see what the cliches and stereotypes are. Only then do they begin to hit pay dirt.354Thought
Robert MorganYou have to really dive deep back into yourself and get rid of so much modern analytical categorization. It's one of the great things poetry does.345Thought
Robert MorganWe don't want to live in the dark moods of imponderable mystery, but neither do we want to miss them altogether. they allow us to emerge from the tender sadness of the manger to s… ▶3710ReflectionSadness
Robert MorganA poem in form still has to have voice, gesture, a sense of discovery, a metaphoric connection, as any poetry does.294Reading
Robert MorganI don't think poetry is something that can be taught. We can encourage young writers, but what you can't teach them is the very essence of poetry.327Thought
Robert MorganThe best books of our times have included the three mature volumes of Philip Larkin. They're very short books of poems, and very carefully arranged.306ReadingTime
Robert MorganDistance not only gives nostalgia, but perspective, and maybe objectivity.252Life
Robert MorganSome people want to call me an Appalachian writer, even though I know some people use regional labels to belittle.297Humanity
Robert MorganI seem to keep returning to my father in poems because his personality was so extreme, so driven. He did everything to excess.232Thought
Robert MorganIt was less a literary thing than a linguistic, philosophical preoccupation... discovering how far you can go with language to create immediate, elementary experience.255Life
Robert MorganI love to create interesting textures with language. You can do it as long as it seems like a discovery.233Love
Robert MorganIf people associate me with a region, that's fine with me.245Humanity
Robert MorganThe young people have MTV and rock and roll. Why would they go to read poetry? Poetry belongs to the Stone Age. It awakens in us perceptions that go back to those times.235HumanityReadingTime
Robert MorganFiction is about intimacy with characters, events, places.214Reflection
Robert MorganI did not have a very literary background. I came to poetry from the sciences and mathematics, and also through an interest in Japanese and Chinese poetry in translation.171Reflection
Robert MorganSome people swear by writing courses, but whether it really helps American poetry, I have doubts.183Humanity
Robert MorganI don't think the creative writing industry has helped American poetry.249Thought
Robert MorganI don't think American poetry has gotten any better in the past 35 years. Oddly enough, creative writing programs seem to have been good for fiction, and I would not have predicte… ▶151ThoughtTime
Robert MorganWith prose you can incorporate more details, develop scenes, sustain the tension in a special way. Prose has its own speed.141Death
Robert MorganI considered going to film school; I took a course in film and was very interested in filmmaking as well as film writing.207Reflection
Robert MorganI have taught students from the New York City area so long I have a special affinity and rapport with them. It surprises me sometimes that there are students from anywhere else.2010Time
Robert MorganSouthern poets are still writing narrative poems, poems in forms, dramatic poems.166Humanity
Robert MorganMaybe the example of Southern fiction writing has been so powerful that Southern poets have sort of keyed themselves to that.133Politics
Robert MorganIn the best fiction, the language itself can become almost invisible.2010Thought
Robert MorganI learned to impersonate the kind of person that talks about poetry. It comes from teaching, I think.144Thought
Robert MorganIf a poem is not memorable, there's probably something wrong. One of the problems of free verse is that much of the free verse poetry is not memorable.134Reflection
Robert MorganNeither of my parents has been very sensitive about my writing.135Love
Robert MorganIn the later books I am much more at home in the use of language to describe things. I had never thought of that until a critic pointed that out.137ReadingThought
