Colm Toibin

Life has a funny way of becoming ordinary as soon as it can.

Between the ages of 8 and 12 it was difficult to know what my father was saying, and he moved very slowly, and then he died.

The old Victorian laws against homosexuality were still on the statute books until the early 1990s. As a gay man living in Ireland, I and people like me found it easy to feel less than citizens.

When I left Barcelona, staying in Spain was an important factor in my decision to join Madrid. I did not have to change country or learn a new language, adopt a different sort of lifestyle, and so on.

Well, I actually wrote her a letter a couple of days ago congratulating her. The tone I tried to convey in the letter is, look, you are a part of a great American historical process.

I'd date someone younger or older; age doesn't matter to me. Or looks, really - it's all about maturity.