Chris Riddell

It is.

It absolutely is.

I think with poetry often...

there is a sort of celebration of obscurity.

You know, it can seem like it's a private sort of language spoken by deeply sensitive people called poets, possibly to other poets.

And accessibility is sometimes seen as rather an unfortunate thing that gets in the way of this wonderful art form.

And my approach to poetry is almost the opposite.

I think it should be accessible.

I think poetry speaks to us, I think, in a very fundamental way.

It is the short form of literature, which is its great power, I think.

And when I read a poem, what I want to do, you know, my pencil itches.

I want to sort of interpret poetry in a visual way.

Not dissimilar, I think, in the way that maybe I draw live with an audience.

You know, it becomes much more about sort of, is this a calm and thoughtful poem?

because then my pencil wants to produce a calm and thoughtful image.

Is it angry and is it a call to arms?

Then my pencil wants to scribble on the page.

I think you want, again, it's about amplification.

And sometimes, you know, poets are wonderful at just dropping pebbles into the mill pond of one's thoughts and just creating these extraordinary ripples that grow and grow and grow.

um and i think um that's what i enjoy responding to when there's just just a line in a poem where you just think wow that just represents an emotion that speaks to me um i want i want to tease that out i want to think about that and sometimes an illustration can reflect that can just take an essence and just say right this this is a you know a poem that that can do that and as with