The language has got to be fully alive - I can't bear dull, flaccid writing myself and I don't see why any reader should put up with it.

Helen Dunmore (born 12 December 1952) is a British poet novelist and children's writer. She has won awards for her fiction (the Society of Authors' McKitterick Prize and the Orange Prize) and also for her poetry (Helen Dunmore has won the Cardiff International Poetry Prize been shortlisted for the T. Educated at the University of York Helen Dunmore now lives in Bristol.

Educated at the University of York Helen Dunmore now lives in Bristol. Eliot Prize and had her books named as Poetry Book Society Choice and Recommendations). Helen Dunmore (born 12 December 1952) is a British poet novelist and children's writer.