Auden said poetry makes nothing happen. But I wonder if the opposite could be true. It could make something happen.

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.

What will you do now with the gift of your left life?

The stars are filming us for no one.

Between 9am and 3pm is when I work most intensely

I always say that I'll have a go and see whether the poem works and if it does, then fine.