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Quote by Maggie O'Farrell

“Something that had an enormous influence over my relationship with language was my stammer. I had a really bad stammer in my childhood and adolescence, and that imbues you with two things. First, a hyper-sensitivity to grammar, because a stammerer will have problematic sounds, impossible verbal stumbling blocks. Second, writing is just such a joy when you have a problem with speaking. It's so astonishing to watch language coming out of your pen without any hesitation or dysfluency.”

Author

Maggie O'Farrell

Maggie O'Farrell is an Irish author born in 1972. Her works are known for their deep character development and emotionally rich storytelling. O'Farrell's writing often focuses on family relationships and women's experiences, frequently exploring themes of love, marriage, and identity. more

“I still have a stammer. I hate it; I loathe and despise it. But it's always there, and I have lots of ways to conceal it. I can conceal it now but I'm not good on the telephone. I get my husband to make dentist appointments. And I hate live radio. Hate it. I really try to avoid it at all costs. But it's always there. Stammerers become skilled at sentence construction and synonyms: we have to be. Faced with a problem word, we need to have instant access to eight others we could use instead - ones we could say without stumbling. I think my stammer is a huge part of my being a writer.”

Thinking Trying Problem Hate Husband I Hate Instant My Husband Construction Dentist Synonym

Author:Maggie O'Farrell

“I don't know how comic artists feed their families, if they do. But it's a fascinating form and so I think that after a long period of nothing happening and work, nothing very impressive, we are into another golden age of comics. Unfortunately, it's not a golden age for the artists themselves economically. I don't know how they get along.”

Thinking Long Age Artist Comic Impressive Very Impressive

Author:Jules Feiffer

“The key thing in my becoming a writer was going on a Arvon Foundation residential writing course. I took with me a really messy twenty thousand words of something that later became After You'd Gone, my first novel. My tutors were Barbara Trapido and Elspeth Barker.”

Writing Novel Messy Tutor

Author:Maggie O'Farrell

“I'm not sure about that role any longer. The role used to be to mix things up and I think to a great extent it still is, but the quality of the work of the political cartoon has been succeeded by the wisecrack, the gag cartoon, so that the cartoonist becomes more of the equivalent of the Jay Leno monologues, or David Letterman monologues.”

Thinking Political Quality Not Sure Cartoon Cartoonist Letterman

Author:Jules Feiffer