Levine is a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet who graduated from my alma mater, Wayne State. I was nervous to interview and write about a Pulitzer winner, but he was down to earth and easy to talk to, which is why I liked the quote from fellow poet M.L. Liebler describing Levine: "He's still Phil from Detroit."
I spent long summer afternoons reading his books, smiling at his sardonic descriptions, picturing the Detroit he grew up in, appreciating poetry as a storytelling device. It was time well spent.
One that stuck with me is "Belle Isle, 1949." I found a clip of him reading it.
