He said most young writers today do not have the same desire to write.
Many audience members said they were surprised at Bly's personality.
"I heard he was a misogynist," said Advocate editor Kirstin E. Butler '01. "I came expecting to hear a lot of gender poetry. I was impressed that his poems are more universal, they're life lessons for every person."
Butler's impression probably came from another one of his books, Iron John, Bly said.
"I wrote that book about man's initiation into the masculine world," he said. "When you write about men, people assume you don't like women."
Bly is currently working on a book about man's initiation into the feminine world with Marian Woodman, a Canadian psychologist.
"We're trying to explore how men learn about the feminine world," Bly said. "It's about time, isn't it?"