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Quotes from Interview — Judith Ortiz Cofer

1952–2016 Puerto Rico

← All quotes by Judith Ortiz Cofer

9 quotes

Poetry teaches us how to deal with the economy of language, the concentration of language, the cautious use of metaphor.

Interview (2000)

That's the problem with categories. Once you're labeled, you have a hard time breaking out.

Interview (2000)

You can call me anything you want, but don't keep me from doing anything I want.

Interview (2000)

I would say that poetry is my first discipline.

Interview (2000)

I don't mind categories, but these publications are keeping me from being seen as I really am, which is a student of world literature and interested in many countries.

Interview (2000)

I think it was a couple of years after Gabriel García Márquez won the Nobel Prize and the so-called Latino boom began. All of a sudden people said, "Hey, these guys may have something important to say."

Interview (2000)

Now, as a more mature person, I realize that keeping my Spanish was a great gift.

Interview (2000)

Every great book contains matter that could be termed poetry. The Bible is a perfect example. So poetry, even if it's not what I'm doing, is my teacher.

Interview (2000)

One of my favorite quotations from Emily Dickinson is: "Tell truth
But tell it slant."

Interview (2000)

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Judith Ortiz Cofer (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.