Cole Swensen is an American poet, translator, essayist, editor, professor, and founder of La Presse--a publisher of English translations of contemporary French writing. Her work, in its various guises, is a major contributor to and influence on American letters. She is the author of 14 book-length collections of poetry, 12 books of translation, and co-editor of American Hybrid: A Norton Anthology of Contemporary Poetry; her many awards include a Guggenheim fellowship. Currently, she directs Brown University's M.F.A. program in creative writing, and divides her time between Providence and Paris. In this interview, I ask her to talk about her most recent book, Stele (Post-Apollo Press).