I cannot live with someone who can't live without me.

I never talk about what I'm writing about currently, never. It's private work on your own, no need or obligation to talk about it. Writers are made into performers these days, including myself, but there are some instances in which I will not perform.

in writing, sex doesn't matter; it's the writing that matters.

It's easier for the former masters to put aside the masks that hid their humanity than for the former slaves to recognise the faces underneath. Or to trust that this is not a new mask these are wearing.

In various and different circumstances certain objects and individuals are going to turn out to be vital. The wager of survival cannot, by its nature, reveal which, in advance of events.

Writing is making sense of life. You work your whole life and perhaps you've made sense of one small area.

All worthwhile writing... comes from an individual vision, privately pursued.