Antjie Krog

"Firstly, one has one life. It would be pathetic to try and keep it pure and bare in the hope of writing The Big Poem. In my book, The Big Poem compensates for nothing. Being embedded in a full-blooded life could enrich what one has to say; the feeding of your children could feed the writing. In those countries with opportunities, if the feeding of the children destroys the writing, then one should also accept the possibility that one perhaps did not have enough to say anyway. 

Secondly, to accept as the only choice the one that Rumens formulates, is to buy into that very male either/or notion. Male writers never had to “give up” penis, balls and beards – they turned it into the very essence of their writing. They never chose between a family and writing – they turned their singularity into the only category. Why do we assume that to be a good writer we have to be like them? Why do we assume that an epic poem about heroism or the loneliness of choice can be part of the canon, but a short poem about childbirth cannot?"

The full interview :

http://www.oulitnet.co.za/nosecret/antjie_krog.asp

Another link:

http://www.poetryinternationalweb.net/pi/site/collection/article_item/int_article/368