Wendy Cope has talked of how it felt when she published her first book of poetry, at the age of 40. In an interview with the Observer magazine, Cope said: “I was a single, somewhat lonely, primary school teacher, and suddenly the phone never stopped ringing. It was quite a surprise. “

Cope is known for her light-hearted, comical verse, including parodies. Later in the interview she adds that she has “never quite recovered from the hostility from other poets towards me around the time Making Cocoa for Kingsley Amis was published [in 1986]. They didn’t like the way I suddenly appeared on the scene and all the publicity the book got.” You can read the full interview here