Edna O'Brien — Irish Novelist born on December 15, 1932,

Edna O'Brien is an Irish novelist, memoirist, playwright, poet and short story writer. She is considered the "doyenne" of Irish literature.Philip Roth considers her "the most gifted woman now writing in English", while former President of Ireland Mary Robinson regards her as "one of the great creative writers of her generation.".. (wikipedia)

My hand does the work and I don't have to think; in fact, were I to think, it would stop the flow. It's like a dam in the brain that bursts.
Writing is like carrying a fetus.
I'm an Irish Catholic and I have a long iceberg of guilt.
I am obsessive, also I am industrious. Besides, the time when you are most alive and most aware is in childhood and one is trying to recapture that heightened awareness.
Recollection is not something that I can summon up, it simply comes and I am the servant of it.