"I think that, in principle, a workshop is such a beautiful idea - an environment in which writers wh..." — Eleanor Catton

An interesting thing about New Zealand, you know, literature is that it really didn't begin in any real sense until the 20th century.

One of the things I really like about Victorian novels is the close anatomisation of character. People's gestures and mannerisms and the quality of their thought is very closely identified and analysed.

I often feel intellectually frustrated when I'm in a position where I'm not moving forward; when I'm not enquiring about something.

The nice thing about the zodiac as a system is it is quite comprehensive as a range of impulses and psychological states it can speak about.