Job: He was Poet Laureate from 1999 to 2009; he is Professor of Creative Writing at Royal Holloway College, University of London, and co-founder of the online poetry collection, The Poetry Archive.
What people say: In an article in the Guardian, Philip Beadle, the winner of the Secondary Teacher of the Year Award 2005, writes: 'Andrew Motion's public pronouncements on the study of British poetry, once again, gives new meaning to the phrase: "Leave it out, grandad. You've never taught in a blooming school, let alone followed the AQA syllabus".'
In a review for the Guardian, Carol Rumens writes about his latest collection of poems, entitled The Cinder Path: 'The generally sombre mood lifts for moments of pleasure - paintings, vacations, sex - and sly flashes of humour. Motion has been a tirelessly capable and positive laureate. This collection marks his recovery of "negative capability". It stops to look around, and whispers to itself, "Possibly. Probably. Perhaps".'
