For all the books in his possession, he still failed to read the stories written plain as day in the faces of the people around him.

...Sometimes I suspect that what had really happened was that we became more resigned, more cynical, raised our pain thresholds as we lowered our expectations. All in all, settled for less.

Identity politics are wearisome; you don't want to go on speaking for any one group as a writer.

Writing stories is my way of scratching that itch: my escape from the claustrophobia of individuality. It lets me, at least for a while, live more than one life, walk more than one path. Reading, of course, can do the same.

When I was four I thought everything in TV was just TV, then I was five and Ma unlied about lots of it being pictures of real and Outside being totally real. Now I’m in Outside but it turns out lots of it isn’t real at all.

Any parent knows how to be the ideal parent.

I'm named after Jane Austen's Emma, and I've always been able to relate to her. She's strong, confident but quite tactless.