We are who we are, be­cause of those we choose to love and be­cause of those who love us.

What we leave behind in this life is the memory of who we were and what we did. An imprint, no more.

One cannot always marry the person one loves.

There’s only one difference between published and unpublished writers, and it is this -- the first group see their work in print on the shelves of Waterstone’s or Tesco or online at Amazon; the second group are yet to have physical evidence of the hours, weeks, years spent fashioning words into their patterns. You are already a writer.

People have different views of how you deal with different issues in literature, and, frankly, long may it last that there is a range of views.

All prizes have a role, if they are run with integrity and with a clear focus on reading and quality writing. I don't think any of them is necessary, but they all play an incredibly important role in building a body of literature, in introducing new authors to new readers, and extending reading.

The dead leave their shadows, an echo of the space within which once they lived. They haunt us, never fading or growing older as we do. The loss we grieve is not just their futures but our own.