The ingredients that make a good poem often differ from those that make a good essay and from those that make a good novel.

- Kathleen Rooney

I never have trouble keeping fact and invention straight.

- Kathleen Rooney

If a reader believes that everything in nonfiction or history is just objectively true, I don't really know what to tell them, except that at least i…

- Kathleen Rooney

Fiction is often a much-needed step back that gives you the distance to see things more clearly; it's very often better at explaining why events happ…

- Kathleen Rooney

As a writer who writes poetry, nonfiction, and fiction, I think it's important to always maintain a firm grasp on genre and ethics.

- Kathleen Rooney

In early drafts, one of the trickiest things for me to do was to realize that the techniques and devices that make readable and compelling nonfiction…

- Kathleen Rooney

Not to give too big of a spoiler, but I never find myself thinking, for example, Oh, remember that crazy time I stumbled on that closeted Republican …

- Kathleen Rooney