I'm interested in memory because it's a filter through which we see our lives, and because it's foggy and obscure, the opportunities for self-deception are there. In the end, as a writer, I'm more interested in what people tell themselves happened rather than what actually happened.

To see the best before I have properly begun would be somewhat premature.

So why not become a mongrel? It's healthy

I don't think it's any fun, even if you are one of the most respected authors in the world like Margaret Atwood, to keep being nominated and not win.

What interests me is the surprising enormous extent to which most people accept the fate that's been given to them, and find some dignity.

Every country should have a strong literary tradition of its own at the center, but it should also have an interest in other countries.

Memories, even your most precious ones, fade surprisingly quickly. But I don’t go along with that. The memories I value most, I don’t ever see them fading.