Society in the English countryside is still strangely, quaintly divided. If black comedy and a certain type of social commentary are what you want, I think English rural communities offer quite a lot of material.

To become a mother is to learn a whole language - to relearn it, perhaps, as it was the tongue to which we were born - and hence gain entrance to a forgotten world of comprehension.

You could time a suburban story by your watch: it lasts as long as it takes a small furry animal that's lonely to find friends, or a small furry animal that's lost to find its parents; it lasts as long as a quick avowal of love; it lasts precisely as long as the average parent is disposed on a Tuesday night to spend reading aloud to children.

I think a lot of artists no longer want to participate in or be associated with narrative because of its corruptedness in contemporary culture.

Honest criticism, I suppose, has its place. But honest writing is infinitely more valuable.

I have absolutely no concept of work, except for university. But I like to talk to people a lot about their jobs.

Modern morality is all about perception.