Carol Ann Duffy

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

You have me like a drawing, erased, coloured in, untitled, signed by your tongue.

Poetry, above all is a series of intense moments ­ its power is not in narrative. I'm not dealing with facts, I'm dealing_x000D_ with emotion.

I have piles of poetry books in the bathroom, on the stairs, everywhere. The only way to write poetry is to read it.

The moment of inspiration can come from memory, or language, or the imagination, or experience - anything that makes an impression forcibly enough for language to form.

Poetry and prayer are very similar.

I still have a feeling that I haven't written the best that I can write. I think all poets must feel this: that there is constantly something new to be discovered in the language. It's like a thrilling encounter, and you can find things.

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

How would you prepare to die on a perfect April evening?

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

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.

Time hates love, wants love poor,/but love spins gold, gold, gold from straw.