Between 1989 and 1992 Clive Wilmer interviewed many poets for Radio 3's "Poet of the Month". This book includes 19 of those conversations, and two additional interviews. Wilmer chose poets he wanted to talk to, most of them with a substantial following. In the book, they discuss their lives, approaches to language and form, and the ways their work draws on and contributes to common literary and civic worlds. The poets interviewed include: Fleur Adcock, Patricia Beer, Donald Davie, Seamus Heaney, Ted Hughes, P.J. Kavanagh, Les Murray, Craig Raine, Peter Scupham and Ken Smith.