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

Quote by Helen Dunmore

Topics: Helen Dunmore Quotes

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

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

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 enjoy research; in fact research is so engaging that it would be easy to...

I enjoy research; in fact research is so engaging that it would be easy to...

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...

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...

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.

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

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

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...

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 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...

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...

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...

I was always influenced by language.

I was always influenced by language.

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 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 -...

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...

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...

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 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...