You spend so much time as a writer telling straight and linear stories.

The reason people get afraid of writing real, honest journalism and fiction, and the reason corrupted people and demagogues are afraid of journalism and fiction and poetry across the world, is because it is a subversive form.

Empathy is what obsesses me. And watching empathy recede in the world is terrifying.

Whatever part of writing that is subconscious is a thing that no one has access to.

Sometimes I feel like those born-again folk, always working on their faith, but I'm always working on my atheism. We all have our struggles.

I don't think it's the writer's job to give answers or to give opinions. In fact, when a writer has answers, I think the work ends up being corrupted. It becomes didactic. What a book does is share a consciousness and invite people to explore the questions as best as you can.

I moved to New York because I thrive there.

Your brain forms a story and, if you're lucky, there's a line where the story takes over the brain. You don't even know what you have.

I wrote a novel, so now they can call me a novelist. I tell stories; that's it.

Palestine isn't a state when it concerns statehood. When it comes to warring, it's a state, yes? The Palestinians, they live in a country, for the purpose of war.