Perhaps first and foremost is the challenge of taking what I find as a reader and making it into a poem that, primarily, has to be a plausible poem in English.

1964). W. S.

Her books of poetry include Presentation Piece (1974) which won the National Book AwardLove Death and the Changing of the Seasons (1986) and Going Back to the River (1990). She is Professor of English at the City College of New York.