Marie Howe: On Matters of Life and Death

"Marie is the kind of poet whose accomplishments are too many to mention, so I'll keep it short and say that she's the author of four collections of poetry, the recipient of a Guggenheim, and a former poet laureate of New York. While in that role, she made it her mission to make poetry as ubiquitous as a Gap ad, and she succeeded in bringing poetry to the streets and the subways of New York. And she may not know this, but she also succeeded in bringing poetry to me. Like a lot of people, I grew up thinking that poetry was difficult and inaccessible and something that you needed special instruction to be able to decipher and to get right. Then a few years ago, I heard Marie speak at a conference, and she broke poetry open for me. She made it real. She made it accessible. And I was so taken by her that I plucked up the courage to walk up to her after the event and introduce myself." More in this interview between Suleika Jaouad and Marie Howe.

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