‘A poet who does not figure in my childhood anthology but who has become very important for me in adulthood is Emily Dickinson. If Dylan Thomas introduces you to intoxication, Dickinson shows you how to distill it.’
Audio
‘Perhaps you will become a successful lace-seller, or a designer, or work in fashion, which might well be preferable to being a writer? But you’re not listening, are you? Okay, well don’t despair.’
‘In those happy bygone days when I was a smoker I would wake early, make myself a coffee, tuck myself up on the sofa with a book and read for an hour before breakfast: three fags.’