Ali Smith

She can look at the boys if she wants; she can go round the screen and look at the girls. She can go between the two sides of things like a magician, or a joke. The audience always laughs with delight when she does it.

became a fully fledged grown-up – which is what’s supposed to happen on the day you’re twenty-one – she looked in the mirror and said to herself, I’ve had enough of this. I’m going to change things. So she went straight out and broke a window as a birthday present to herself.

She kept on getting away with it. She kept on setting fire to the empty buildings.

Your grandfather likes to think that all the stories in the world are his to tell, she says.

I began to feel bad about what I’d said. I felt bad as soon as it came out of my mouth. Words. Look what they can do.

How many worlds can you hold in a hand.

In a handful of sand.