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

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

It's always good when women win things in fiction because it tends to be more male-dominated, unlike poetry, which is more equal.

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

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

I still read Donne, particularly his love poems.