I think precision in writing goes hand in hand with not trying to say everything. You try and say two-thirds, so the reader will involve himself or herself.

It's why you create characters: so you can argue with yourself.

She lights a match in the dark hall and moves it onto the wick of the candle. Light lifts itself onto her shoulders. She is on her knees. She puts her hands on her thighs and breathes in the smell of the sulphur. She imagines she slap breathes in light.

I have to teach myself not to read too much into everything. It comes from too long having to read into hardly anything at all.

In the desert the most loved waters, like a lover's name, are carried blue in your hands, enter your throat. One swallows absence.

It doubles your perception, to write from the point of view of someone you're not.

The music of Gavin Bryars falls under no category. It is mongrel, full of sensuality and wit and is deeply moving. He is one of the few composers who can put slapstick and primal emotion alongside each other. He allows you to witness new wonders in the sounds around you by approaching them from a completely new angle. With a third ear maybe.