Author Turned to Poetry to Write Her Book Faster

Posted on May 15, 2011

National Book Award winning author Maxine Hong Kingston told the Guardian she used poetry to speed up the creation of her latest book, I Love a Broad Margin to My Life. Using poetry would slow down the process of writing a book for most authors. Kingston says poetry helped her "hasten the pace of creation."

Kingston says, "Because poetry is condensed I don't have to make my way right over to the right margin, I don't have to leap around in time and space, and I can say a lot with fewer words if I can just find the right words."

Kingston wrote her memoir in free verse. She told the Guardian she was channeling Walt Whitman. Kingston says, "I embed his words into mine so I can sing along with him."