I write in that space between Ella's childhood and mine. I know it all sounds a bit sinister.
My prose is turgid, it just hasn't got any energy.
I'll be left writing picture books and fairy tales.
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.
I am always pleased to be asked to write a poem.
If we think of what's up ahead, with climate change and wars over water, it's very frightening.
I still have a feeling that I haven't written the best that I can write. I think all poets must feel this: that there is constantly something new to be discovered in the language. It's like a thrilling encounter, and you can find things.
I see the shape of the poem before I start writing, and the writing is just the process of arriving at the shape.
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 wanted a child. Being a mother is the central thing in my life.
Having a child takes you back to all those parts of your own childhood that you had hidden away.
I have piles of poetry books in the bathroom, on the stairs, everywhere. The only way to write poetry is to read it.
