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

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

It's always good when women win things in fiction because it tends to be more male-dominated, unlike poetry, which is more equal

I'll be left writing picture books and fairy tales

I think poetry can help children deal with the other subjects on the curriculum by enabling them to see a subject in a new way.

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

The moment of inspiration can come from memory, or language, or the imagination, or experience - anything that makes an impression forcibly enough for language to form.