The latest edition of The White Review includes a thought-provoking interview with Anne Carson. There are many interesting replies but few as fascinating as these:

“Q. How does an essay like ‘Decreation’ or ‘Variations on the Right to Remain Silent’ in FLOAT come together?
A. One method is to open whatever five books are on my desk and try to find connections between/among them. Less radically, get a whiff of an idea somewhere and follow other people’s footnotes down to the sub-basement.
Q. What counts as a valuable connection?
A. A connection that shakes the argument, gives off a vibration of its own animal life is a good one.”