Poetry is all I write, whether for books or readings or for the National Theatre or for the opera house and concert… — Tony Harrison Books Copy Share Image
Of course you have to provide for the vulnerable and the children, but also, the vulnerable and the children need art in… — Tony Harrison Art Copy Share Image
I've always had the wish, the need, and the obsession to become a public poet. — Tony Harrison Always Copy Share Image
Looking back, fire images have been constant in my poetry. As a boy, it was my job to light the fire each… — Tony Harrison Fire Copy Share Image
I need to look back on my poetic ventures, make sense of them as a whole, and move forward... and to experiment… — Tony Harrison Back Copy Share Image
Theatre has to be theatrical. It has to draw attention to itself, like poetry. — Tony Harrison Attention Copy Share Image
The imagination has its limits, and you have to face up to that. — Tony Harrison Face Copy Share Image
“Long Distance II Though my mother was already two years dead Dad kept her slippers warming by the gas, put hot water… — Tony Harrison Hot water Copy Share Image
The Greek tragic mask is one of my main metaphors for the role of the poet. The eyes of the tragic mask… — Tony Harrison Eyes Copy Share Image
I think poems belong as much in the news pages as the literary pages. A lot of people throw aside the literary… — Tony Harrison Belong Copy Share Image
Statues are one of the ways I try to test the traditions of European culture against the most modern destructive forces. I… — Tony Harrison Culture Copy Share Image
I think that, as you get older, you want to be freer rather than more bound. — Tony Harrison I think Copy Share Image
It is always better to write for the whole of society than for the poetry-reading public. — Tony Harrison Always Copy Share Image
Yes, I've got inwardness and tenderness, but I also get angry and vituperative, and you have to honour that as well. — Tony Harrison Angry Copy Share Image
It's been an obsession with me from childhood, the horrors of the twentieth century. — Tony Harrison Childhood Copy Share Image
I spent a lot of time on recce. It is a kind of creative chaos, but I like the sense of creative… — Tony Harrison Chaos Copy Share Image
The first thing you see in my hallway is a large 18th-century bust of Milton, who stares at me as I watch… — Tony Harrison Blind Copy Share Image
You can make poems out of anger as well as tenderness. You can make poetry out of anything. It can be the… — Tony Harrison Anger Copy Share Image
I have always disliked the idea of an arts ghetto in which poetry is kept on a life-support system. — Tony Harrison Art Copy Share Image
A poem, once it's written, is meant to be read with the inner voice of the person who reads it. — Tony Harrison Inner voice Copy Share Image
I hate being called poet/dramatist/translator/director. 'Poet' covers it all for me. — Tony Harrison Being Copy Share Image
