“I see the shape of the poem before I start writing, and the writing is...” — Carol Ann Duffy Quote

“I see the shape of the poem before I start writing, and the writing is just the process of arriving at the shape.”

“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.”

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

“If we are always arriving and departing, it is also true that we are eternally anchored. One's destination is never a place but rather a new way of looking at things.”

“I grew up in the suburbs, so I remember arriving at Waterloo and seeing Big Ben and the coloured lights on top of the Southbank Centre and thinking, 'Wow!'”

“One of the things I've really come to realise is that the chances of arriving at a universal truth are increased if you remain absolutely faithful to the contingencies of your own experience and the vagaries of your own nature.”