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

"I'll be left writing picture books and fairy tales."

"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."

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

"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."

"Poetry and prayer are very similar."

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

"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."

"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."

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

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

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