Carol Ann Duffy

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. ”

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

I think the dangers are different now. Our abuse of the planet and our resources is an anxiety. ”

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 still read Donne, particularly his love poems. ”

I grew up in a bookless house - my parents didn't read poetry, so if I hadn't had the chance to experience it at school I'd never have experienced it. But I loved English, and I was very lucky in that I had inspirational English teachers, Miss Scriven and Mr. Walker, and they liked us to learn poems by heart, which I found I loved doing. ”

I always wanted a child. Being a mother is the central thing in my life. ”

You can find poetry in your everyday life, your memory, in what people say on the bus, in the news, or just what's in your heart. ”

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. ”

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