Ali Smith

“Words are like untying a corset - you can move into this great space with them.”

“I really like jackets and tend to buy them to the detriment of my need of all the other items.”

“I met an internationally esteemed writer at a literary party being given in her honor. She was wearing a beautiful pink, flouncy, frilly dress. I complimented her on it. She said, 'Ach, it's my nightgown. I couldn't decide what else to wear.'”

“I grew up completely alone but with all the comforts of knowing I had a cushioning family structure around me - and yet I could free myself from it.”

“I'm quite good on the harmonica and can get a tune out of most musical instruments, so long as the tune is 'Oh Susannah.'”

“As for Aliki - if you were to stand in the middle of Rome and say the name Sophia Loren, or Paris and say the name Catherine Deneuve or Brigitte Bardot, or L.A. and the name Marilyn Monroe, it's like standing in Athens, or anywhere in wide-flung Greece, and saying Aliki Vougiouklaki. A huge star - a...”