And if these incidents now seem full of significance and all of a piece, it's probably because I'm looking at them in the light of what came later.

I find Japanese books quite baffling when I read them in translation. It's only with Haruki Murakami that I find Japanse fiction that I can understand and relate to. He's a very international writer.

I started as a songwriter and wanted to be like Leonard Cohen. I've always seen my stories as enlarged songs.

One need hardly dwell on the catastrophic possibility of uttering a bantering remark only to discover it wholly inappropriate

What do you think dignity's all about?' The directness of the inquiry did, I admit, take me rather by surprise. 'It's rather a hard thing to explain in a few words, sir,' I said. 'But I suspect it comes down to not removing one's clothing in public.

Memory, I realize, can be an unreliable thing; often it is heavily coloured by the circumstances in which one remembers.

I think the judging process is full of integrity, compared to some other prizes around the world. The fact that they change the panel of judges every year keeps it from becoming corrupt. I think it's very difficult if you've got judges for life; obviously relationships are cultivated between judges and authors, and publishing houses.