Writing poems and writing programs actually have many things in common - the controlled and precise use of language, the drive to produce something both maximally compact and maximally beautiful, the guiding role of intuition, the need to keep going until you get it right, the sense of knowing when it is right.

You currently work in astronomy as a software developer, can you tell us a little more about this?
It sounds quite romantic, but sadly I don't get
to gaze at astounding images of galaxies or build pioneering spacecraft. I'm mostly wrestling with bits of software infrastructure that might equally well be used to handle data from physics, biology, commerce, all kinds of areas.

You've been cited as 'one of the strongest new figures in British poetry' how does this life interact with your life as a software developer?
Not at all, really. I suppose I'm a bit of an outsider in either world because of my involvement in both. Fortunately neither writing poems nor writing code defines who I am - they're just things I do.

With the spotlight now on, do you feel pressured to produce battery farm style?
No - but even if I did, it wouldn't make any difference, as I'm naturally a very slow writer. Alan Garner once wrote "There's no such thing as writer's block, only writer's impatience". Let's just say I have lots of impatience.

So, can you give us a thumbnail sketch of Tails...
That sounds like it ought to be a mixed metaphor...It's hard to characterise a book of disparate poems, but I guess there's an underlying progression - a journey from various kinds of loss, accompanied by the ambivalence of hope, to various kinds of redemption.

In Tails have you bared your soul or are you a master of illusion?
It's only in the world of gossip that you ask the writer whether or not a poem tells the truth - in the world of poems, you ask the reader.

Is writing your master or your mistress?
Neither. It's a penance for forgetting what really matters, and a reward for remembering.

What's the allure of writing poetry?
The pleasure of playing with words. The occasional cathartic or revelatory experience. The sense that the writing voice - or maybe the writing ear, since the process is more like listening - is wiser, more self-aware, in touch with a deeper level of reality, than the everyday mind.

Is poetry the poor cousin of the novel?
If you're talking author's advances, absolutely!

What role does other media play in your life (mobile, tv, radio, web...)
The only media I rely on are email and the web, both of which I'm perpetually connected to.

I really enjoy seeing a good film at the cinema, but parenthood means I don't get to go very often; instead we watch a DVD once or twice a week.

Otherwise, I'm something of a media-free zone these days. I haven't had a TV for about four years, and can't honestly imagine wanting one again. Radio-wise I used to listen to the Today show in the mornings, but eventually realised that the mock-adversarial nonsense of politics wasn't such a great way to start the day.

Which reading matter makes it into your life?
Regrettably little due to my general busyness - in the past couple of years, mostly bed-time stories! (Mind you, this has included the His Dark Materials and Wind on Fire trilogies, so it's not all Hamster Huey and the Gooey Kablooie).

What reading matter do you avoid like the plague?
The weekend papers. Like a big bag of MSG-laden crisps, they have an absentmindedly more-ish quality that just leaves me feeling bloated and unsatisfied.

If you had a magic wand what would you be doing right now?
Pretty much what I am doing - plus getting to sleep in more often.

What about an invisible cloak then?
I've got one - it's called a pram! Half the world doesn't see you when you're pushing one.

Best piece of advice you've ever had?
Don't take everything so seriously.

How do you want to be remembered?
Right now, I'd settle for being remembered in the will of somebody who'll bequeath me a study. My life is sadly lacking in poetic garrets at the moment.

What's next in your life?
I'm in a holding pattern for the next little while - or at least that's the intention. Life has a way of tossing up a few surprises...