I enjoy research; in fact research is so engaging that it would be easy to go on for years, and never write the novel at all.

Quote by Helen Dunmore

Topics: Helen Dunmore Quotes

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...

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...

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.

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

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

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...

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...

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

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

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 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.

However, the difficulties and pleasures of the writing itself are similar for a novel with...

However, the difficulties and pleasures of the writing itself are similar for a novel with...

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...

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.

Children will not pretend to be enjoying books, and they will not read books because...

Children will not pretend to be enjoying books, and they will not read books because...

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...

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.

I have learned so much from working with other poets, travelling and reading with them,...

I have learned so much from working with other poets, travelling and reading with them,...

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

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

I was always influenced by language.

I was always influenced by language.

To try to expunge an individual's history is a terrible violation.

To try to expunge an individual's history is a terrible violation.