And die of nothing but a rage to live

Alice Oswald throws the windows of the imagination open; she places a fingertip on the pulse of tradition, and proves it is still very much alive - The Times

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

...the popular music of Jamaica, the music of the people, is an essentially experiential music... the music reflects the historical experience. - Linton Kwesi Johnson

Poetry matters because it is a tool for helping us to discover who we are. As individuals, as Caribbean peoples, as citizens of the world. Olive Senior

Forget the corny comedian: Pam Ayres is a proper poet, whose wistful, funny, and perceptive verse captures both the joy and unfairness of life. - Sunday Times

Billy Collins writes lovely poems...limpid, gently and consistently startling, more serious than they seem, they describe all the worlds that are and were and some others besides. - John Updike

A jet-age Tennyson - London Review of Books

Now if the harvest is over / And the world cold / Give me the bonus of laughter / As I lose hold. - 'A Nip in the Air', John Betjeman

A voice as welcome as Lear's fool... Humour that can stick deep and stay funny. - Ted Hughes