'Many years ago, I read Faiz and Lorca before embarking on a novel, and I remember feeling fresh, full of wonder, as if I was writing a story for the first time. '

Many years ago, I read some Faiz and Lorca before embarking on a novel, and I remember feeling fresh, full of wonder, as if I was writing a story for the first time. Poetry does that. Reading a collection of poems might then be akin to a blood transfusion.