I like to hide in Ireland, but I like to think of myself as an internal exile. - John Banville

Copernicus stuck very closely to the facts, but in Kepler I invented freely, and it's a much better book because of that.

I write in what we call Hiberno-English, and it would be disastrous to lose my literary accent, as both Joyce and Beckett began to do in exile. In their case the unique tone of voice they each unwittingly adopted only made for a deeper poetic intensity; I suspect if I were to undergo a similar loss the result would not be so productive.

Look at what goes on in our heads when we think about our family or we think about sex. There are things in there that you'd never really say to anybody. You're even ashamed to think it yourself.