A Creative Life Cannot Be Sustained By

A Short Story Is A Shard, A Sliver, A Vignette. It's A Biopsy On The Human Condition But It Doesn't Have This Capacity To Think Autonomously For Itself.

There Is Something Mysteriously Powerful That Can Happen When Young, Inchoate Minds Come Into Contact With Older And More Worldly Ones In A Spirit Of Intellectual And Creative Endeavour - If I Believed In Progress, I Suppose That's What I'd Call It.

If You Believe Something, You Can Have A Morality That Means Something As Well. You Can Feel Recognized As An Individual Within The Universe; It Can Give Meaning To Who You Are.

I'm Very Happy For Whatever Plaudits Might Come The Way Of My Work, But I Never Ever Sit Down To Write X With Y In View - Whether It's A Reader, A Prize Or A Sale.

Because I Was A Young Man So, Of Course, I Did Get Into Fights. The Last Time I Actually Was In A Fight, In The Sense Of Throwing Punches Myself, Was Probably When I Was At College, Not Since 1980. But I Remember Being Attacked Quite A Few Times In The '80s.