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I don't think I've ever read poetry, ever.

I don't think I've ever read poetry, ever. I'm not really book-smart.

I have never considered myself a poet. I have no interest in poetic artistry.

In the writing of poetry we never know anything for sure. We will never know if we have 'trained' or 'practised' enough. We will never be able to say that we have reached grade eight, or that we have left the grades behind and are now embarked on an advanced training.

I'm not an academic, but I've always loved poetry since I've been small.

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.

Poetry is an orphan of silence. The words never quite equal the experience behind them.

There's never been a culture without poetry in the history of the world.

For whatever reason, people, including very well-educated people or people otherwise interested in reading, do not read poetry.

When I was asked to be Writer in Residence at Edinburgh I thought, you can't teach poetry. This is ridiculous.