"Certain chroniclers of our past have pushed out of the frame the little man and woman whose contribution towards the creation of a democratic South Africa was immeasurable"

"There are not enough hours in the day to explore the lives of men and women in their daily struggles with poverty, hunger and disease"

"It is enough to have imagined, but it helps to have lived through the circumstances"

"If you are a human being the huge ethical debates will rest with you in the snarling loneliness of midnight"

"In our haste to promote an unproblematic and amnesiac Rainbow Nation, we have rewarded murderers with medals and even loosed some of them to speak for us in exalted councils"

"Every writer enjoys a challenge that plunges him or her into uncharted waters"

"It is my belief that in accepting Mandela in all his complex configurations, we can start coming to terms with the kind of greatness we are collectively capable of reaching"

"If you go to a Catholic Church in South Africa, it’s a far cry from what you are familiar with in France or Europe"

"the people who colonized us used religion as an excuse, as an entry point, into this country."

"So they used religion – Christianity to be more specific – to deceive us"

"Yes. Christianity, to many black people – especially in KZN1 which was then Natal or Zululand – was an escape"

"We pretend that queerness or homosexuality is a new phenomenon. It’s always been there. It’s there in our songs and historical books but it’s something that we’re, like, ashamed of"

"At some point I was said to be a ‘Kwaito generation’ writer and this sometimes came with negative stereotypes, as if I didn’t belong to the ‘writers club’ yet"

"If you don’t develop eyes in the back of your head, you won’t survive in Joburg. It’s a university without a professor."

"Of course it would have been great if writing yielded some pecuniary benefits, but I’m still satisfied with the opportunities and the profile I have built for myself over the years"

"Mainstream publishing houses were not really connected to South African readers"

"What comes to my mind when I think of South African literature is awareness and education"

"If we don’t resolve the issue of land redistribution decisively, and in a manner that takes full cognisance of the extent to which the majority was robbed, it may come to haunt us. It happened to our neighbour, Zimbabwe."

"I’m not much of a follower of South African literary prizes. I think most of them are not a true reflection of the rich and diverse literary landscape in the country"

"Joburg is part of me and I’m part of Joburg, once you live in Joburg, it touches you more than hands can ever do"

"As a novelist, I am concerned with the ways in which communities transform their historical experience into the symbolic terms of myth, and then use mythologised narratives of the past to organise their responses to real-world, present-day crises and events"

"Historical novels show us how the origins of many present-day problems lie in the past; they are vehicles for the necessary journeys that nations must take to be healed; they help us reimagine ourselves in the present day"

"I write to edutain and cathart. I write to educate, entertain and heal myself."

"I think every writer is, one way or the other, a literary diplomat, whether travelling or not"

"We have yet to formulate or to forge a common identity that says “South Africa""

"We’re a country that is trying to find itself as a nation. We are not a nation"

"If you were a foreigner coming to South Africa, and you read the books, you will think black people do not exist"

"I find it works to draw people because history can be intimidating. But if you infuse it with some humor, it becomes more palatable in a way"

"I’ve seen some historical novelists playing with facts, that is just distasteful, disrespectful as to history"

"Contrary to popular belief, writing a short story is more difficult than writing a novel. A short story needs a clear focus, from beginning to end. In a novel there can be unnecessary deviations — which you can’t afford in a short story"

"Writing a novel is like running a marathon"

"systematically and deliberately tackle heavy subjects in my writing"

"My job as a novelist is to record what happened back then, but to also raise a flag, to caution that the country still has some unfinished business"

"Historical fiction can be a powerful tool in the hands of a writer who is also an activist"

"The South African publishing industry is still largely in white hands."

"I have realised that the so called writer's block comes when the writing muscle does not get exercised as often as it should be"

"I am not a reporter, I write opinions"

"The second book is always a challenge because of the reception the first book received"

"there is this idea of home being linked to love, but there are homes that are terrible, and then one has to find solace, sometimes in the most unexpected places"

"I’m very sceptical about book prizes and always have mixed feelings when they are announced"

"fiction projects today’s reality into the future much better than nonfiction"

"Being that young, I had to navigate the precarious space of being a colleague to these men, but also to be a child to them. When they were wrong on editorial matters, it was difficult for me to categorically tell them they were incorrect. I had to find euphemisms to put my points across. I didn’t always succeed"

"Migration impacted the lives of black people a lot in South Africa – forced migration – because it was always against our own will"

"I lament the fact that everything good that represents Joburg has shifted and that the attention of city planners is now focused on places like Rosebank and Sandton, leaving the city centre neglected"

"Read, read, and read a lot, then write even if it doesn’t make sense at the moment"

"South African history, particularly that which has been forgotten or generally unknown, into the forefront so that it may not disappear into the past…to reignite unfinished conversations around issues of race, identity and land, for example"

"Writing is a very cathartic experience and I use it to address my fears"

"In a country that has as many inequalities as ours, volunteering should be second nature"

"As much as my writing is diverse and sometimes straddles different categories, it’s clear that placing any of my books under a section marked “chick lit” is patently sexist"

"If all African writers only wrote about race (for instance), which is a major factor that contributes to the inequalities faced by black people across the world, we would miss the opportunity to bring out the other human aspects of our people"