THE LITTLE CITY FIVE: Stephanie Danler

1. What did you learn in graduate school that you didn't know already?

I learned about the world of writing – which is incredibly hard to access without help. I mean that I learned that there are fellowships and residencies and conferences, readings going on all over the city on any given night. There was this supportive community but I don’t know how I would have connected to it without school.

2. How do you approach reading poetry?

I read poetry slowly and openly. Most poems get read twice. If it’s not catching me within this first few lines I might move on – I’m like that with all writing. I read for the surprise – a word choice, a cadence, the shift in view. My hope is that I’m winded by the end of it – like my breath has been knocked out of me.

3. What's your favorite place to eat in New York? 

Too big of a question. For breakfast I love Russ and Daughters Café or Cup and Saucer (an old diner), both on the Lower East Side. I love sitting at the bar at Buvette and Gramercy Tavern any time of day. I love Marlow and Sons in the early evening for oystes and chicken liver pate.

4. Name a favorite book from childhood, from teenage years, and a recent one.

Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger, Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov, Sleepless Nights by Elizabeth Hardwick.

5. What comes to mind when you hear the word Hoboken?

Sarah Woog! We worked together at Union Square Café and she lived in Hoboken in 2006. I ended up there after a long night of drinking. I woke up and felt like I was in Disneyland – everything was so clean!