I was born in Goring, Oxfordshire, and I've been writing poetry since I was about 4. My English teacher, Mrs Thomas, was my main source of encouragement and I used to aim at writing at least 50 poems each summer for 5 or 6 years.

I love writing poetry - I've always preferred art to science. However in this I am almost alone in my family as my twin sister Liz is a vet and my brother an engineer! Yet I think poetry is a beautiful way of expressing how you truly fed, which isn't always easy especially in speech.

I find that the best poems are ones where the words or images, or even just the shape or form of the poem, just come to you rather than sitting down and trying to write one. Ideas come at any time so I tend to always carry notebooks! I write poems mainly about love and beauty, probably in part because I adore the romantic poets like Keats. Byron, and Shakespeare. I've never been much of a fan of modern poetry which seems to have strayed from the ideals and the imagery of great poetry. Poems have to move, touch, even puzzle you or make an impact - otherwise they won't stand out. I've always felt it doesn't matter if you don't understand a poem as long as you can make out your own interpretation about it, and no response is wrong'. Yet there must be meaning there to be discovered. Poetry is many things. It can be like a diary, or remind you of pain, as the best poems can be written through pain. It's like an outlet, but the great thing is that it always seems to give you encouragement and hope, because we're always looking forward with it - to a better life!