On October 12, the day of her Library of Congress reading with Xi Chuan to promote Push Open the Window, the NEA blog Art Works posted an interview with Chinese poet Zhou Zan 周瓒. Read the whole interview here; the following is a particularly interesting detail:

NEA: What do you remember as your earliest experience in or engagement with the arts?

ZHOU ZAN: When I was a child, maybe 4-5 years old, I was playing with my friends. For some reason, we argued, and then I discovered that I could talk in the manner in which one composes a poem: a sequence of very short sentences. I was able to talk a lot in this way, using metaphor and images. I surprised both the other kids and myself. Afterwards, I realized that I had an ability in the creative arts.