Great poetry does not have to be technically intricate.

The Mormon mission to Africa, as to other dark-skinned parts of the world, was for a long time hobbled by the racism of the movement's scripture.

There is no objection to the proposal: in order to learn to be a poet, I shall try to write a sonnet. But the thing you must try to write, when you do so, is a real sonnet, and not a practice sonnet.

One problem we face comes from the lack of any agreed sense of how we should be working to train ourselves to write poetry.

Great poetry does not have to be technically intricate.

When Mr Ackroyd says that in the 18th century, stranglers bit off the noses of their victims, I feel that he probably knows what he is talking about. I just wish he hadn't told me.

I prefer writing in the mornings, so to that extent I have a routine. I do reading and other things in the afternoon.