place. Isak Dinesen speaks of this in Out of Africa when she says on her farm: "Here I am, where I am meant to be." I believe the word in Maori is turangawaiwa. It doesn't mean that the "place" is necessarily permanent. Somewhere on the borders between the spiritual, philosophical and geographical sense of place there are writers who have an understanding of the value of cultural diversity that offers us a new way to look at the world. The kind of work that inspires me is writing that not only appreciates but also celebrates difference. Some of the writers whose work has influenced me are: Elizabeth Bishop, Hattie Gossett, Pablo Neruda, Audre Lorde, Elizabeth Smart, P.K. Page, Elena Poniatowska, Germaine Greer, Virginia Woolf, bell hooks, Anne Sexton, William Butler Yeats and Gloria Anzaldua. Karin: You have described yourself as a feminist writer. Do your poems appeal more to your daughter's generation than to your own? Jacqueline Baldwin: It depends on the particular woman's experience, I would think. A lot of women who are my age, of course, have not been as fortunate as I have. They have not had the opportunity to go to university in their 50's. Some of my daughter's friends are doing absolutely amazing, incredible work and they,re only twenty-five years old. They,re already going into Masters, programs and they have jobs volunteering at women's shelters. Well . . . that wasn't possible in my day. In fact, when I left my husband, in fear of my life in the early 70's, there wasn't such a thing as a woman's shelter. There was a police department, which you wouldn't have dared to go to because they would have said, "Oh yes! What did you do? What was it that you did to make your husband treat you badly?" Dee: How have readers reacted to your poems? Jacqueline Baldwin: Some of my readers have told me that my writing validates their own experience. For example, one woman said: "I didn't know I was allowed to think that until I read it in your work." Another reader recently told me that the poem "After the Honeymoon," which won a prize several years ago, made her realize that someone understood what she was going through. I hope that my work makes a difference to people. Karin: What are some of your favorite poems? Jacqueline Baldwin: Well, there's one, "Recycled Bleach Bottles," that creates an enormous response whenever I read it, and I've had other