In the 1990s, from the estates of Scotland came the phenomenon of Irvine Welsh. ‘Trainspotting’ demanded its place not only in the high ranks of contemporary fiction but as a describer of a Britain that literally and metaphorically was in a deep mess. – Melvyn Bragg
For after my marriage I had made various attempts to write fiction. They were clearly failures. – Mary Augusta Ward
It’s perceived as an accolade to be published as a ‘literary’ writer, but, actually, it’s pompous and it’s fake. Literary fiction is often nothing more than a genre in itself. – Neil Cross
I’ve often thought even ragtag gatherings of documentary filmmakers are more fun than gatherings of fiction filmmakers. – Marshall Curry
I read all the Agatha Christies when I was younger and like Sherlock Holmes. Crime fiction has always fascinated me, but I’ll read anything anyone gives me. – Emilia Fox
Books are acts of composition: you compose them. You make music: the music is called fiction. – E. L. Doctorow
It seems that the fiction writer has a revolting attachment to the poor, for even when he writes about the rich, he is more concerned with what they lack than with what they have. – Flannery O’Connor
It’s part of a cycle of stories I’m writing where I deconstruct classic science fiction. – Cory Doctorow
My taste in watching things runs from dramas and low-budget films to high-end fantasy/science fiction. – Michael Sheen
I was always into science fiction as a kid. I loved science and tinkering with things. – David Hanson
I think that writers of literary fiction would do well to read more books for children. – Eleanor Catton
Films are always a fiction, not documentary. Even a documentary is a kind of fiction. – Philip Seymour Hoffman
I like certain subgenres within science fiction and fantasy, and one of those is urban fantasy, and another is steampunk. – Gail Carriger
I think speculative fiction has fewer unspoken prerequisites than literary fiction for writers of color. – Nnedi Okorafor
The genres of the fantastic and the grotesque are far more interesting to me than most mnemonic fiction. – Ellen Datlow