Yes, can't escape it– born here; know no other language well enough. Fate then.

When you consider your own "tradition," do you think primarily of American poets?

No– only good poets.

Do you believe there is anything specifically American about past and contemporary American poetry? Is there American poetry in the sense that there is said to be American painting or American film? Do you wish to distinguish American poetry from British or other English language poetry?

Yes and yes and yes (Mainly because of subject matter) Not definitely. Not with the idea that only the Whitman/Williams line is American, that's propaganda.

Which historic poets do you consider most responsible for generating distinctly American poetics?

E. Dickinson, Emerson, Pound, H. Crane, etc.

What import does regional poetry occupy in your sense of American poetry?

When it's good, it counts. Otherwise, not.

What significance does popular culture possess in your sense of American poetry?

Very little in and of itself. Something has to be made of it.

What about the American poets who lived primarily in Europe (Eliot, Pound, Stein)? What about the European poets who have recently lived or worked in America (Heaney, Walcott, Milosz)?

Eliot and Pound, fine. I see that foreign poets living here have had much effect on "native" poetry.

Are you interested in poetry written in America but not in English?

Only if well translated and good. I need translation to get started.

Are you more likely to read a contemporary non-American poet who writes in English or a contemporary non-American poet translated into English?

I do know. Examples? It would depend on how good they were. Probably the latter.

Do other aspects of your life (for instance, gender, sexual preference, ethnicity) figure more prominently than nationality in your self-identity as a poet?

No.

Do you believe you could readily distinguish a poem by an American poet from a poem by other poets writing in English?

Yes.

What do you see as the consequences of "political correctness" for American poetry?

Disaster.

What are your predictions for American poetry in the next century?

A paring of the ways, most likely, between "popular, poetry" and serious work.