It struck me as I listened to those two men that a truer nomination (name) for our species than Homo sapiens might be Homo narrans, the storytelling person. What differentiates us from animals is the fact that we can listen to other people’s dreams, fears, joys, sorrows, desires and defeats–and they in turn can listen to ours.

You can have more than one home. You can carry your roots with you, and decide where they grow.

I came to Mozambique in 1986, when I first became involved with Teatro Avenida - a theatre company that stages plays concerned with political and social issues.

The stories I create are never as awful as reality.

I do not understand how on earth you can become a writer without seeing the world.

Africa was the most exotic place I could conceive of - the end of the world - and I knew I would go there one day.

It was a clear, starry night, dead calm. Whenever I see a sky like that, I wish I could write music