SOURCE: "The Art of Poetry," in The Paris Review, Vol. 37, No. 135, Summer, 1995, pp. 142-89.

In the following excerpted interview, Gunn discusses his writing process, the main influences on his poetry, and the major themes and stylistic concerns of his work.

CLIVE WILMER: I wonder if we could begin with a brief description of how you live? I get the feeling, for instance, that you 're quite fond of routine.

THOM GUNN: Well, if you haven't got a routine in your life by the age of sixty-two, you're never going to get it. I spend half the year teaching and half the year on my own. I like the idea of scheduling my own life for half the year, but by the end of that time I'm really ready to teach again and have somebody else's timetable imposed on me, because I'm chaotic enough that...