Russell Banks

I don't want it to be all that self-conscious or artificial, but it really grows out of my having invented myself as a listener so that I could hear her voice.

But on the other hand, I don't actively seek out stories or hunt them down.

John Brown first swam into my vision in the 1960s when I was a political activist in the civil rights movement and the anti-war movement at Chapel Hill, where I went to university.

In my opinion, the Republican Party is the last on the list to care about the needs of old people and children and poor people.

There's a whole bunch of unfinished stuff. Then I've got books of lyrics. I find it frustrating to finish a song and not be able to record it... so I don't write a million songs.

Another thing that freaks me out is time. Time is like a book. You have a beginning, a middle and an end. It's just a cycle.