People haven't got the interest in long long works these days. A lack of interest which I share. Norman MacCaig dayinterestlack Change image and share on social
A terrible thing about getting oldish is that your friends start dying, and in the last ten years I have lost seven or eight of my closest. Norman MacCaig closediefriend Change image and share on social
When I was asked to be Writer in Residence at Edinburgh I thought, you can't teach poetry. This is ridiculous. Norman MacCaig askedinburghpoetry Change image and share on social
There are some friends you don't meet for twenty years and when you meet them again it's as if no twenty years has happened - you're lucky when that happens. I feel the same about books. Norman MacCaig bookfeelfriend Change image and share on social
However, I learned something. I thought that if the young person, the student, has poetry in him or her, to offer them help is like offering a propeller to a bird. Norman MacCaig birdlearnoffer Change image and share on social
I said I have no powers of invention. Well, I also have no powers of mimicry. Norman MacCaig inventionmimicrypower Change image and share on social
When I was a teacher, teachers would come into my classroom and admire my desk on which lay nothing whatever, whereas theirs were heaped with papers and books. Norman MacCaig admirebookclassroom Change image and share on social
I was very interested in American poetry for many years. Much less now. Norman MacCaig americaninterestpoetry Change image and share on social
And in a way, that's been a help to me, because I take great passions for a particular poet - sometimes it lasts for many years, sometimes only for a while. This happens to everybody. Norman MacCaig greatlastpassion Change image and share on social
In fact a lot of them I think are absolute baloney. Those Charles Olsens and people like that. At first I was interested in seeing what they were up to, what they were doing, why they were doing it. They never moved me in the way that one is moved by true poetry. Norman MacCaig absolutebaloneycharle share on social
