Top 39 Quotes by Emma Donoghue

You're meant to have an unhappy childhood to be a writer, but there's a lot to be said for a very happy one that just lets you get on with it.

Every parent has those moments where they look at their child and think, 'There's a demon in those eyes and no one can see it but me!'

I come out of an academic background, and I'm aware that what I'm doing is simultaneously research and fiction. I want to meet both those obligations.

You cannot predict literary success; the only way you can possibly aim for it is to do your thing and do it well.

I'm named after Jane Austen's Emma, and I've always been able to relate to her. She's strong, confident but quite tactless.

It's painful to consider anything but writing.

I have never been depressed or thrown a plate, which I attribute to the cathartic effects of writing books about people whose lives are more grueling than mine.

Any parent knows how to be the ideal parent.

Identity politics are wearisome; you don't want to go on speaking for any one group as a writer.

Writers should be applauded for their ability to make things up.