“My highest point was the first thing I won, a short story competition ...” — Kate Atkinson Quote

“My highest point was the first thing I won, a short story competition in a women's magazine in the Eighties. It was the first time I'd had my writing validated, and the first thing I'd ever shown anyone else.”

“I was an only child and grew up in York where my parents ran a surgical supplies shop. When I say I wish I had brothers and sisters, friends say it's not what it's cracked up to be, but I think it must be good to have someone who knew you from the beginning.”

“Fairy tales opened up a door into my imagination - they don't conform to the reality that's around you as a child. I started reading when I was three and read everything, but I wanted to be an actress.”

“My parents always taught me to be humble no matter what the experience, to not think I was better than anyone else.”

“Don't worry over what the newspapers say. I don't. Why should anyone else? I told the truth to the newspaper correspondents - but when you tell the truth to them they are at sea.”

“I sew my own shoes - I don't trust anyone else to sew the ribbons exactly how I like them.”