 As a young poet she was the founder-director of Poetryfest – the Aberystwyth International Poetry Festival and the founding editor of "Orient Express", a journal of contemporary writing from Europe.Sampson has published twenty-nine books, including collections of poetry, volumes on the philosophy of language and on the writing process.She has written prose on place, literary criticism - she contributes regularly to "The Guardian", "The Irish Times" "The Independent", the "Times Literary Supplement" and the "Sunday Times" - and biography.