Many Southern writers must have learned the art of storytelling from listening to oral tales. I did. It gave me the knowledge that the simplest incident can make a story.

I think acceptance of human rights is going to progress from one day to the next. I don't think there's going to be any violent revolution about the whole thing anywhere. Of course, it looks like it every once in a while. You hear about it on television and in newspapers: riots here and there. But that is a passing phase.

Influence is a very tenuous matter. I try to avoid it in every respect. I don't want to be influenced by anybody.

To me there is no such thing as creative writing. It's either good writing, whatever the subject, or it's not creative.