I have piles of poetry books in the bathroom, on the stairs, everywhere. The only way to write poetry is to read it.

Christmas is taken very seriously in this household. I believe in Father Christmas and there's no way I'd do anything to undermine that belief.

For me, poetry is the music of being human. And also a time machine by which we can travel to who we are and to who we will become.

I write quite a lot of sonnets, and I think of them almost as prayers: short and memorable, something you can recite.

I grew up in a bookless house - my parents didn't read poetry, so if I hadn't had the chance to experience it at school I'd never have experienced it. But I loved English, and I was very lucky in that I had inspirational English teachers, Miss Scriven and Mr. Walker, and they liked us to learn poems by heart, which I found I loved doing.

Better off dead than giving in; not taking what you want.

If I felt, in the event of a royal wedding, inspired to write about people coming together in marriage or civil partnership, I would just be grateful to have an idea for the poem. And if I didn't, I'd ignore it.