Stay the course with your work. Because writing is a process. And coming to understand yourself as a writer is a process. And the beautiful thing about writing-if you stay the course-you come into a different knowing about your work.

Nikky Finney has written four books of poetry: The World Is Round; Rice; On Wings Made of Gauze; and Head Off & Split, which received the 2011 National Book Award.

She has written a collection of short stories, Heartwood, and edited The Ringing Ear: Black Poets Lean South.

Finney is professor of English and creative writing at the University of Kentucky and co-founded the Affrilachian Poets.