Writers are a loosely knit community - community is an overstated word. Writers don't see each other very much.

It is a world of impulse. It is a world of sincerity. It is a world in which every word spoken speaks just to that moment, every glance given has only one meaning, each touch has no past or no future, each kiss is a kiss of immediacy.

The Book of Telling tells of a woman's journey to uncover the secret life of her father and to find herself in the process, an unusual counterpoint between personal history and the history of a young nation. Haunting, powerful, and beautifully written.

Music is, of course, a universal emotional experience, cutting across cultures and languages. I studied piano for ten years as a child and consider that experience one of the most valuable in my life.

The tragedy of this world is that everyone is alone. For a life in the past cannot be shared with the present.

It's the Platonic philosophy in The Republic that philosophers should lead the country.

In fiction writing, I would say there are several different strands that have been woven through my own writing, and each influenced by a different group of writers.