Penelope Lively

We read Greek and Norse mythology until it came out of our ears. And the Bible.

Equally, we require a collective past - hence the endless reinterpretations of history, frequently to suit the perceptions of the present.

The Photograph is concerned with the power that the past has to interfere with the present: the time bomb in the cupboard.

Latins are predisposed to thinking about the past. Catholicism has a lot to do with it because Catholicism is a contemplation of the past, of symbols that are supposed to be eternally present.

Practically all the prominent leaders of thought in China today are openly agnostics and even atheists.

I feel so grateful when I see a movie and there's a woman who looks somewhat like me. I'm like, 'Thank you, Samantha Morton!' You know, a woman who feels like a human being. That means so much to me.