A novel, in the end, is a container, a shape which you are trying to pour your story into.

Quote by Helen Dunmore

Topics: Helen Dunmore Quotes

Mourning Ruby is not a flat landscape: it is more like a box with pictures...

Mourning Ruby is not a flat landscape: it is more like a box with pictures...

The poets whom I knew then were all men and all seemed dauntingly sure of...

The poets whom I knew then were all men and all seemed dauntingly sure of...

Writing children's books gives a writer a very strong sense of narrative drive.

Writing children's books gives a writer a very strong sense of narrative drive.

However, I began to submit poems to British magazines, and some were accepted. It was...

However, I began to submit poems to British magazines, and some were accepted. It was...

As individuals, we are shaped by story from the time of birth; we are formed...

As individuals, we are shaped by story from the time of birth; we are formed...

When you are young you don't always realise how full of doubts everybody is.

When you are young you don't always realise how full of doubts everybody is.

I concentrate on the lives of individuals whom the reader comes to know and feel...

I concentrate on the lives of individuals whom the reader comes to know and feel...

The language has got to be fully alive - I can't bear dull, flaccid writing...

The language has got to be fully alive - I can't bear dull, flaccid writing...

I would like people to come into my Dreamworld and then choose to stay.

I would like people to come into my Dreamworld and then choose to stay.

Those who try to obliterate the past are injuring the present.

Those who try to obliterate the past are injuring the present.

Fiction came quite a while later. I began with short stories and fiction for children.

Fiction came quite a while later. I began with short stories and fiction for children.

I didn't choose Russia but Russia chose me. I had been fascinated from an early...

I didn't choose Russia but Russia chose me. I had been fascinated from an early...

I could start with Mandelstam, who was a huge influence on my early writing.

I could start with Mandelstam, who was a huge influence on my early writing.

If we understand the past, we are more likely to recognise what is happening around...

If we understand the past, we are more likely to recognise what is happening around...

It is a violation which has obsessed the tyrants of the twentieth century. They do...

It is a violation which has obsessed the tyrants of the twentieth century. They do...

My first collection of poems was published by Bloodaxe Books, which was then a very...

My first collection of poems was published by Bloodaxe Books, which was then a very...

I hope that readers will tear through my books because they can't stop themselves -...

I hope that readers will tear through my books because they can't stop themselves -...

I can remember being in my pram: children stayed in their prams much longer then...

I can remember being in my pram: children stayed in their prams much longer then...

Poets go through a very tough apprenticeship in the use of words.

Poets go through a very tough apprenticeship in the use of words.

Writing poetry makes you intensely conscious of how words sound, both aloud and inside the...

Writing poetry makes you intensely conscious of how words sound, both aloud and inside the...