From the age of 12, all I wanted to do was read and write poetry. When I wrote a poem – or I should say at that point, tried to write a poem – it felt like something was happening that was bigger than myself. Even now, strange things happen when I sit down and write. It’s like time moves at a different pace.
I was so proud to be the official poet of the 2012 Olympic Games. I think the Olympics did so much good for people. I live in east London and I still see the way it benefited people who live here. Simon Armitage told me that poetry was in the very first Olympics. I loved learning that!
