When I talk of hearing a poet's voice speaking, I always think of it as in the presence of the man.

There are some friends you don't meet for twenty years and when you meet them again it's as if no twenty years has happened - you're lucky when that happens. I feel the same about books.

People haven't got the interest in long long works these days. A lack of interest which I share.

I'm very gregarious, but I love being in the hills on my own.

It's like breathing in and out to me. It's like having a conversation with someone who isn't there. Because it has to be addressed to somebody - not a particular person, or very rarely.

All I write about is what's happened to me and to people I know, and the better I know them, the more likely they are to be written about.

When I talk of hearing a poet's voice speaking, I always think of it as in the presence of the man.