Lewis Hyde is one of those contemporary authors whose work I think about a lot. He’s spent years reflecting on and writing about topics of great interest to me, like forgetting and forgiveness, but the true trademark of his work is how he processes concepts and describes them. He approaches his work like chasing a butterfly (a lifelong hobby of his), following the dips and curves of an idea until he’s satisfied. We talk about his revered books The Gift and A Primer for Forgetting, and what artists do or do not owe the world. And now that I know he took undergrad classes with John Berryman — the first favorite poet I ever had — I’m going to be thinking about his work, and his beautiful writing, even more.

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