Every great narrative is at least two narratives, if not more - the thing that is on the surface and then the things underneath which are invisible.

A good argument, like a good dialogue, is always a proof of life, but I'd much rather go and read a book.

Books mean all possibilities. They mean moving out of yourself, losing yourself, dying of thirst and living to your full. They mean everything.

All we need to do, reader or writer, from first line to final page, is be as open as a book, and be alive to the life in language - on all its levels.

I went to the top of Vesuvius and looked in.

You never know if you're a writer. You can't trust it. If you woke up and said, "I'm a writer," it would be gone. You wouldn't see anything for miles - even the dust would be running away.

Stella Duffy is a writer who never lets you down.