Five points interview with Michael Longley

Longley: I mean, I wouldn't want to disown the earlier “me's,” the earlier versions of me, and, in some ways, I would very much like to go back to the way I was writing when I was young, which was formally and elaborate. I think, too, and this might be true of life generally, that as you get older, you discover some quite simple things which take a long time to discover, like what you like and who you are. And up until then, you're trying on faces and you're trying things out, and this self-knowledge leads to a kind of insouciance, not giving a fuck, right?