Gillian Cross quotes:

Fiction is often most powerful when the author is exploring an issue - and not writing like a know-it-all who has the perfect answer.

Refugees come from many different backgrounds and live in many different circumstances, so I wouldn't like to generalise. But I think refugees from the U.K. would probably be healthier and better fed than those from many other countries.

If fiction changes things, it's usually because it's a powerful way of exploring social issues. And it helps us to understand people who are different from us.

Non-fiction books have helped me enormously with lots of my books.

One of the fantastic things about books, fiction or non-fiction, is the way they give you a chance to look into different lives.