“What's poetry, if it's worth its salt, / but a phrase men can pass from hand to mouth?”

His technique dazzles, and through the handling of rhythm and image he makes the world his own, and ours - The Sunday Times

Strands of autobiography, a deeply sensuous ecology of place, historical narratives; the inner world of imagination and the often difficult realities of the postcolonial nation are interwoven in McWatt's bold but carefully worked out architecture. Peepal Tree

I believe that in all diverse forms of artistic expression across all countries, there are some sensitivities in common. Esther Phillips

Poetry is a form of embodiment - Christian Campbell

Poets can learn a lot from the timing of the best comics: pacing, economy, judiciousness, silence, rhythm, reward.

Lord teach wings how/in the stark silence of these evenings/ in the fine chiselled rock spaces/ to fold and nest... - 'After Heartease New England', Velma Pollard

I don't want to be one of those ivory tower writers; I want to affect people's lives.

Not only rich music, an easy lyricism, but also grit, and earthy honesty, a willingness to be vulnerable and clean. - Gwendolyn Brooks

His poems are direct and arresting, playful, full of startling imagery, and are hilarious, passionate and erotic as often as they are political - often managing to be all these things at once - Maura Dooley

An engraver in short, sharp slashes that go deep. Andrew Salkey