`Ridiculously hard`: how Neil Gaiman wrote a poem for refugees from 1,000 tweets
(The Guardian Culture News)

The author and UNHCR ambassador appealed for warm scenes for his poem What You Need to Be Warm - and received ideas from everyone from Ben Stiller to Monica LewinskyRead the poem belowComing up with his latest work was `ridiculously difficult`, Neil Gaiman admits. Last month, the Good Omens and American Gods author, who is also an ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), asked his Twitter followers to tell him what reminded them of warmth. After receiving almost 1,000 responses - with Ben Stiller and Monica Lewinsky among those to contribute - Gaiman found himself with a 25,000-word document, from which he has composed his newest written work: a freeform poem to launch UNHCR´s Winter Emergency Appeal for refugees across the Middle East.What You Need to Be Warm touches on everything from `a baked potato of a winter´s night to wrap your hands around or burn your mouth` to `the tink tink tink of iron radiators waking in an old house`. Continue reading...