Poetry. His is a consistent preoccupation with language, its soundedness, appearance on the page, and what it can get up to in the guise of poems. Many of his poems rigorously question political language, asks is this precise, is this truthful? His poetry, whose cadences echo Elizabethan poetry and the wit of Frank O'Hara shows what occurs when language becomes crystal clear. "Your gift is so constant in lyrical delicacy that its vulnerability to chill is an exact index of damage and of how far a music will reach."—J.H.Prynne "His intelligence, courtesy and care for writing in English have made him a key figure in English poetry over recent decades."—Peter Hughes