So far, her students are sharing her enthusiasm. As a working poet, she combines her knowledge and expertise of the craft with the approach of a critic. While poetry is rarely emphasized in the American system of education, Ireland's system makes the study of poetry compulsory, said Boland. According to Boland, both systems have their drawbacks. While American students are underexposed to poetry, Irish students re ject poetry because they associate it with exams.
Poetry is about the creative present, and young people have to have a hand in making that present.
The hardest thing for most young poets to learn, said Boland, is to have confidence in their own experiences. Although she has been writing poetry since her childhood, Boland was in her 20s before she could fully accept her own experiences as legitimate material for poetry. Now, Boland regularly writes about her experiences, especially about her family. She is married and has two daughters, ages 20 and 17. Though her daughters will remain in Ireland during her tenure at Stanford, Boland said they frequently ask if their mother is working near a Banana Republic.