Latest Sarah Kay Quotes from Interviews

Quotes about:

• Nothing is as universal as some good scatalogical humor. Even if it means having to be a little silly or cheeky, I think it is worth it.

  Sarah Kay

  Silly, Mean, Thinking

  Source: journalwomenwriters.wordpress.com

• Poetry is like a puzzle-solving strategy for me. I like to poem my way through tricky questions and ideas. That's about the only consistent thread through my poem-creation process.

  Sarah Kay

  Ideas, Way, Strategy

  Source: journalwomenwriters.wordpress.com

• Poetry makes people nervous. Especially in schools.

  Sarah Kay

  School, People, Nervous

  Source: journalwomenwriters.wordpress.com

• When words become a poem, it makes sense to me, but I don't know how to explain to someone why the words are the way they are. It's just the logic of the poem to me.

  Sarah Kay

  Way, Logic, Make Sense

  Source: journalwomenwriters.wordpress.com

• If you know what you're looking for, the illustrations might give you a tip about what is coming in that section. But it takes a lot of study and familiarity with the work for anyone to really "decode" it, and there are also images that are just thematically important, and not necessarily pointing to specific poems, so mainly it was just a fun puzzle for ourselves.

  Sarah Kay

  Fun, Illustration, Giving

  Source: journalwomenwriters.wordpress.com

• You can be an artist, work hard for your work and also share while trying to create community with other artists.

  Sarah Kay

  Hard Work, Artist, Community

• It's really hard for me to remember all of the places that I've been but I can remember all of the delicious meals that I've ever eaten. I love traveling by way or stomach...and finding quiet time.

  Sarah Kay

  Meals, Way, Quiet

• I love books that create worlds for me that I don't want to leave. I recently lost my entire life to Haruki Murakami - 1Q84. I tell people that book ruined my life in the best possible way. I couldn't think of anything else for weeks after I read it.

  Sarah Kay

  Book, Thinking, People

• Think it's so unfair when people think that you're not a "real artist" unless you're getting paid for it....I personally know so many poets that work a 9 to 5 in a cubicle and come home and write poetry. Their poetry is just as powerful and moving as anything that I've ever written, if not more.

  Sarah Kay

  Powerful, Real, Moving

• I don't think it's about art being a career but it's about making sure that if art is something that you love, something that brings you joy, it's about you having a duty to find time in your life for that thing that brings you joy...even if it can only be a small amount.

  Sarah Kay

  Art, Thinking, Careers

• I don't think I ever had a morning where I woke up and said I'm going to be a professional poet. I know I've always loved poetry, I've always loved writing poetry and I've always loved sharing poetry. I've also always known that I wanted that to somehow be a very large part of my life and I'm very fortunate that it's such a large part of my life.

  Sarah Kay

  Morning, Writing, Thinking

• My falling in love with spoken word poetry definitely came out of that time period where all the adults around me were failing to supply me with any answers. Everyone was too busy dealing with things that were more important. I was pretty lost and invisible. And all of a sudden, this world opened up where I could get on stage and perform in front of my peers. People would listen to me and see me, and people would say, "That thing you created was important." And that was so validating and necessary at that specific moment.

  Sarah Kay

  Falling In Love, People, Important

  Source: saseye.com

• Things that I have a hard time being able to fully grasp, sometimes writing the poem helps me work through it. Or I get to the end of the poem and I still haven't figured anything out, but at least I have a new poem out of it.

  Sarah Kay

  Writing, Hard Times, Able

  Source: saseye.com

• Ever hear that expression, "it was the best of times, it was the worst of times"? That's what high school was like for me. Both of those - all the time.

  Sarah Kay

  School, Expression, High School

  Source: saseye.com

• I write poetry to figure things out. It's what I use as a navigating tool in my life, so when there's something that I just can't understand, I have to "poem" my way through it. For that reason I write a lot about family, because my family confuses me and I'm always trying to figure them out. I write a lot about love, because love is continually confusing in all of its many glorious aspects.

  Sarah Kay

  Writing, Love Is, Always Trying

  Source: saseye.com

• I think you can perform any poem. But what I believe is that the best examples of spoken word poetry I've ever seen, are spoken word poems that, when you see them, you're aware of the fact they need to be performed. That there's something about that poem that you would not be able to understand if you were just reading it on a piece of paper.

  Sarah Kay

  Believe, Reading, Thinking

  Source: saseye.com

• One of my highest priorities as an educator is to be as inclusive as possible.

  Sarah Kay

  Priorities, Educator, Highest

  Interview with Jennifer Messing, journalwomenwriters.wordpress.com. August 5, 2014.

• Nothing is as universal as some good scatalogical humor. I try to shift the frame in which people think about poetry from being distant or "sacred" to being more human, because then I think it becomes easier to feel like poetry belongs to us, is for us, is from us.

  Sarah Kay

  Thinking, People, Trying

  Interview with Jennifer Messing, journalwomenwriters.wordpress.com. August 5, 2014.

• I want to welcome folks to poetry, especially those who may have previously felt unwelcome; I want to celebrate everyone who is trying to make sense of this world through poetry the way I try to.

  Sarah Kay

  Trying, World, May

  Interview with Jennifer Messing, journalwomenwriters.wordpress.com. August 5, 2014.

• Part of what I try to do in schools is take poetry off of a pedestal and make it a little more accessible and approachable.

  Sarah Kay

  School, Trying, Pedestal

  Interview with Jennifer Messing, journalwomenwriters.wordpress.com. August 5, 2014.

• Thinking about writing as an act of celebration is sometimes a helpful framework for me. It allows me to prioritize what I want to call attention to and what I want others to know about me. It makes me ask: What is worth celebrating?

  Sarah Kay

  Writing, Thinking, Attention

• Poetry is like pooping. If there is a poem inside of you, it has to come out. Sometimes it can be really difficult and take longer than you'd like (it may even be painful), but other times it can be really easy and happen much faster than you expected. But either way - it is important, and it feels so much better when it's done.

  Sarah Kay

  Important, Done, May

• One thing that I believe is that every time I write something, I am taking the time to celebrate. Even if I am writing a sad story or an angry poem, I am still giving those stories my time and attention.

  Sarah Kay

  Believe, Writing, Giving

  Interview with Jennifer Messing, journalwomenwriters.wordpress.com. August 5, 2014.

• Every moment I choose to write about is one I have deemed important enough to dwell inside of and share with others. I am holding this moment up to the light and saying, "Wow, will you look at that?"

  Sarah Kay

  Writing, Light, Important

  Interview with Jennifer Messing, journalwomenwriters.wordpress.com. August 5, 2014.

• I fell in love with poetry through storytelling, so my poetry tends to be fairly narrative. I like characters, I like having a beginning, middle, and ending, though not necessarily in that order.

  Sarah Kay

  Character, Order, Narrative