Literary Birthday – 24 March – Jo Shapcott

Jo Shapcott Quotes

1. A lot of things jostle in my notebook, things that I have overheard, or heard about. In all the jostling are ideas that can link, form a new kind of emotional truth, a different kind of truth than just simply the facts.
2. I am very curious as a writer, as a person. Whatever it is that is happening, there’s nothing that’s not interesting. Every experience is fascinating.
3. I have a load of courses under my belt. The artist should be curious about everything. As for scientists, look how often they rely on analogy and metaphor to explain complex ideas. Look at the term ‘string theory’.

Jo Shapcott is an English poet, editor, and lecturer. She has won the National Poetry Competition twice, the Commonwealth Poetry Prize for Electroplating the Baby, and the Costa Book of the Year Award for Of Mutability. She has written lyrics or had her poems set to music by composers such as Nigel Osborne, Errollyn Wallen, and John Woolrich. She was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1999. Shapcott was appointed as CBE in 2002. She initially accepted the honour but decided to refuse during the period when the British government made preparations to invade Iraq.

Source for photograph Photo credit: Rachel Shapcott

by Amanda Patterson

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