A lot of writers that I know have told me that the first book you write, you write about your childhood, whether you want to or not. It calls you bac…

- Tea Obreht

I am very interested in place, and the influences of place on characters.

- Tea Obreht

At the end of the day, despite all the other great things that literature does in society and in a person's life, I think that we read to escape. And…

- Tea Obreht

I've always written about animals. I'm still trying to process why that is.

- Tea Obreht

You never know what's going to happen in your life, and you never know what's going to happen in someone else's life either.

- Tea Obreht

At the end of the day, it's about the reader's attachment to and belief in the magical elements that make or break magical realism.

- Tea Obreht

I do no writing while I'm in Belgrade visiting my grandma.

- Tea Obreht

The best fiction stays with you and changes you.

- Tea Obreht

Come on, is your heart a sponge or a fist?

- Tea Obreht