If you think of a work of fiction as a kind of scale model of the world then the positive valences - where things turn out better than you thought they would - ought to be in there somewhere too.

We don't tend to write about disease in fiction - not just teen novels but all American novels - because it doesn't fit in with our idea of the heroic romantic epic. There is room only for sacrifice heroism war politics and family struggle.

I was totally absorbed in the real world the politics the history the news and I just couldn't find my way into the fictional world... When I finally could return to writing the novel it was in fits and starts.

The older I've got the less I find myself going back and re-reading or really reading new fiction or poetry.

Short fiction is the medium I love the most because it requires that I bring everything I've learned about poetry - the concision the ability to say something as vividly as possible - but also the ability to create a narrative that though lacking a novel's length satisfies the reader.

Fiction will always be my greatest love with poetry close behind.

I love painting and music of course. I don't know nearly as much about them as I know about poetry. I've certainly been influenced by fiction. I was overwhelmed by War and Peace when I read it and I didn't read it until I was in my late 20s.

Then I discovered I loved writing poetry more than fiction.

Humour is a fine line to walk in poetry as in fiction. I just think it's harder to write. It's harder to keep the respect of the reader too.

Even the people who have had success and made money writing these books of fiction seem to feel the need to pretend it's no big deal or part of a natural progression from poetry to fiction but often it's really just about the money the perceived prestige.

It's always good when women win things in fiction because it tends to be more male-dominated unlike poetry which is more equal.

Even if you only want to write science fiction you should also read mysteries poetry mainstream literature history biography philosophy and science.

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

I often imagine that the longer he studies English literature the more the Japanese student must be astonished at the extraordinary predominance given to the passion of love both in fiction and in poetry.

The middle class is doing fine in fiction. But it's not what gets me going. I love the working class and everyone from it I've met and think they're incredibly witty inventive - there's a lot of poetry there.

Cut quarrels out of literature and you will have very little history or drama or fiction or epic poetry left.

I 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 predicted that.