a different metaphor, I think of how pole vaulters keep raising the bar. And although not all writers do, I love giving public readings of my own and others' poetry. I consider it an essential part of my work. Poems are meant to be read aloud and passed on; once they're written and spoken, they're not "mine" any more. NEA: What do you remember as your earliest engagement with the arts? BELLM: Since I'm a literary artist, I'd have to say that my most important early memory is of my mother taking me to the public library in my hometown, Springfield, Illinois, starting when I was three or four, to pick out books, bring them home, and read them together -- a habit that's never come to an end. My sister Eileen, two years older than me, brought books home from kindergarten and first grade, too. It's all traceable back to that time, the amazing experience of words on paper coming to life as I learned to read. And leaping forward, I have to thank my high school English teacher, Jim Burke, for noticing me, and pushing me to read challenging books that weren't on "the list," and really wanting to hear what I thought of them. NEA: Can you tell us about the project your NEA grant will support. How do you choose the works you translate? BELLM: I'm working on a translation of French poet Pierre Reverdy's (1889-1960) great postwar work, Le chant des morts (Song of the