The strange thing about Africa is how past, present and future come together in a kind of rough jazz, if you like.

The higher the artist, the fewer the gestures. The fewer the tools, the greater the imagination. The greater the will, the greater the secret failure.

I'm conscious of a series of circles working its way through my life. And at this particular moment I have come round to the beginning of my writing cycle. It begins with poetry. There's hardly a day that goes past on which I don't write poetry.

People are as healthy and confident as the stories they tell themselves.

The best writing is not about the writer, the best writing is absolutely not about the writer, it's about us, it's about the reader.

To see the madness and yet walk a perfect silver line. ... That's what the true story-teller should be: a great guide, a clear mind, who can walk a silver line in hell or madness.

An inner darkness is darker than an outer darkness.