Michael ondaatje

You're getting everyone's point of view at the same time, which, for me, is the perfect state for a novel: a cubist state, the cubist novel.

When you're writing, it's as if you're within a kind of closed world.

Research can be a big clunker. It's difficult to know how you can make the historical light.

It's why you create characters: so you can argue with yourself.

Right now, I have no idea what I will write or if I will write again.

Truth, at the wrong time, can be dangerous.

It's an odd state to be in, blowing the whistle on your home country.

It's a responsibility of the writer to get the reader out of the story somehow.

A writer uses a pen instead of a scalpel or blow torch.

I'm a Canadian citizen. But I always want to feel at home in Sri Lanka. I'm a member of both countries.