Graham Swift

“Of course there are times when I hate London, but equally there are times when I can walk 'round a corner and I really feel that this is my place.”

“There's no such thing as the contemporary novel. Before I seem the complete reactionary, let me add that I've happily joined in many discussions about 'the contemporary novel' where what that usually, unproblematically means is novels that have appeared recently or may appear soon.”

“London is like no other city I know in its ability to become beautiful. You can suddenly turn a corner and there are odd moments - of light, of weather.”

“As a novelist, I suppose I can say that I'm highly articulate. But I know, as a person, in other ways, I'm not always articulate. I think we are all, from time to time, inarticulate, at some level, about some things.”

“When I am writing, I'm very much on the ground, on the same ground my characters are treading.”

“I respond to the sound of London being spoken - to the sound of London.”