Celeste Ng

“I'm very much a people pleaser, and the first book had such a devoted and loving following.”

“What I remember about race relations in the 1990s is that you showed your awareness by saying you didn't see race, that you were colour-blind.”

“Somewhere in the Commandments of Reviewing must be written, 'Thou shalt not compare Asians to non-Asians.'”

“Comparing Asian writers mainly to other Asian writers implies that we're all telling the same story - a disappointingly reductive view.”

“Spend enough time wrangling a toddler, and you get good at being kind but firm. Like your child, you must be doggedly single-minded when it matters.”

“I was freelance proof-reading, freelance editing, creating illustrated slides for doctors' presentations - just so I'd have enough money to take the time to write. That's how I got by.”