Q: How long have you been a professor at U.Va.?
A: I began teaching part time at the University in 1993 when Rita Dove was named Poet Laureate and I taught her classes for two years. I was hired full-time in 1995.
Q: What drew you to U.Va.?
A: Initially in the 70s, I was drawn to U.Va. because of an English teacher of mine [who] had gone to U.Va., when it was an all-male school. He told me that the school had begun to admit women and also knew that the English department here was really strong and I passionately wanted to read books. I’ve been in love with the place ever since then.
Q: You have been a very successful writer, winning numerous awards for your books of poetry. When and how did you first know that you wanted to be a writer and teach English courses?
A: Writing sort of chooses you. It’s one of the ways that you respond to being alive. Some people respond by running and athletics, while some people respond by reading or singing. I’m attracted to writing. As soon as I could write, I kept a diary. With writing there is the possibility of an interior life. When I got to U.Va., I was overwhelmed by a busy schedule and was looking for an easy class, so I thought I might take poetry and turn in poems from high school. I had the good fortune to get into a good class and had a wonderful [teaching assistant]. He taught a wonderful workshop in which we read contemporary poetry. That class awakened me to the whole new world of reading and writing and the possibility of speaking in my own voice as a poet — and of course I never once turned in a poem I’d written in high school.
Q: You are also the founder and director of the area program in poetry writing for undergraduates at the University. What led you to begin this program in 2000?
A: When I was an undergraduate here and coming alive to poetry, I would love to have concentrated in poetics and poetry writing — but nothing like that existed at the time. I became a modern studies major ... A lot of my students, prior to 2000, were already creating for themselves a program that allowed them to focus on poetry writing. Sometimes the classes that they took were math, astronomy, religious studies or [some other] interdisciplinary [study]. So I wanted to create a program that would allow talented poets in the undergraduate community to focus their studies on poetry writing, a program that allows them flexibility to take courses in other areas as well as to read deeply and widely in English. Two things about the program that are really wonderful are that [students] get to take seminars that are just for them and those are readers’ classes taught to writers. We look at texts as writers. Then, students have the opportunity to write a year-long creative thesis that includes a collection of poems. This program really makes students more attentive and alive to language.
Q: What has been your favorite class to teach?
A: That is very tough. I love teaching and every class I teach at the moment is my favorite class. A class that I particularly love teaching is a class that I designed called “The Poetics of Ecstasy.” I’ve been teaching it now for four or five years. Right now I’m teaching as a part of an initiative called Second Year Seminars. It’s a class that’s usually offered to graduate students, but now second-year students have the opportunity to take it — some whom are not necessarily poets or English majors. The class gives them the chance to look at ecstasy for all of its precincts and manifestations — from politics to rock music, to films and language. They can look at it and determine whether they actually poetics of ecstasy. I’ve learned a lot from my students.
Q: What is the most rewarding aspect of being a professor at U.Va.?
A: It has to be the students. We have such a gifted, diverse student body. It’s been a joy to watch the school diversify. There is such a range of experiences in the classroom. Many of my students have emigrated or come from exciting, challenging, diverse childhood experiences. I’m addicted to teaching. I can stay a learner that way. I feel seen and appreciated here as well.
Q: What do you most want students to take away from your classes?
A: I want for them to open their minds. They come to the University to enrich, learn and push their comfort zone and discover new things about themselves and others. I want my students to be mindful of the power of language [and] to be readers. I want them to challenge language and question words. Language is power. I want for them to honor and preserve it.
Q: You are an award winning author, having received Rona Jaffe Award for Emerging Women Writers in 2002 as well as prizes and awards from the Academy of American Poets and the Virginia Commission for the Arts. From what or who do you draw your inspiration to write?
A: I draw inspiration from everything. My children, students and work are sources of inspiration. I will jot down notes everywhere I am. I am a poet at Harris Teeter and Texaco. I keep a notebook in my car. I try to use my time wisely. I used to have a ritual for writing poetry, but not anymore. The exigencies of raising three children and having a full-time job mean that I’ve had to learn to write in the interstices and in stolen moments.
Q: What do you consider your greatest accomplishment?
A: Being a mother to my children is my greatest accomplishment. I have the privilege of helping them grow and have learned much from them. I also love my students. I’ve been teaching since 1980, but I’m still in touch with some of them now, even though some of them have children — grown children!
Q: What is one thing that many people do not know about you?
A: When I’m sad, I like to dance to the Rolling Stones at home — alone, of course.
Q: If you could give aspiring writers one piece of advice, what would it be?
A: W.H. Auden once said that it’s important to nurture and keep alive one’s love of language ... I also advise poets to find a way to stay with it. It’s often hard to keep writing because of financial constraints. It’s the poet’s task to find a way to write in a world that does not often reward the endeavor.
Q: Your last book of poetry, Satin Cash, released last year, received a lot of praise and attention. Do you plan on releasing another book in the future?
A: I hope so. I am working on some poems now. I just received the Guggenheim award, so I will have the opportunity to take leave and focus more on my poetry.
Compiled by Lindsay Powell
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