The Poet Speaks will be a series of episodes where I share my favorite comments on writing and creativity from other artists, poets, and writers. The quotations from this episode come from James Shapiro's 1606: William Shakespeare and the Year of Lear, and the Paris Review interviews with Robert Fitzgerald, Philip Larkin, Octavio Paz, and Robert Lowell.

Any comments, or suggestions for readings I should make in later episodes, can be emailed to [email protected].

I assume that the small amount of work presented in each episode constitutes fair use. Publishers, authors, or other copyright holders who would prefer to not have their work presented here can also email me at [email protected], and I will remove the episode immediately.