Carol Ann Duffy

Auden said poetry makes nothing happen. But I wonder if the opposite could be true. It could make something happen. ”

I write in that space between Ella's childhood and mine. I know it all sounds a bit sinister. ”

Having a child takes you back to all those parts of your own childhood that you had hidden away. ”

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. ”

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

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

Christmas is taken very seriously in this household. I believe in Father Christmas, and there's no way I'd do anything to undermine that belief. ”

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

Poetry and prayer are very similar. ”

If we think of what's up ahead, with climate change and wars over water, it's very frightening. ”