"Like the sand and the oyster, it's a creative irritant. In each poem, I'm trying to reveal a truth, so it can't have a fictional beginning."

"My prose is turgid, it just hasn't got any energy."

"Poetry and prayer are very similar."

"I still read Donne, particularly his love poems."

"When you have a child, your previous life seems like someone else's. It's like living in a house and suddenly finding a room you didn't know was there, full of treasure and light."

"Poets deal in writing about feelings and trying to find the language and images for intense feelings."

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

"I write quite a lot of sonnets, and I think of them almost as prayers: short and memorable, something you can recite."

"Edinburgh is my favourite city. We'll be doing a lot of children's theatre and galleries."

"Every day is a gift with a child, no matter what problems you have."