Eight debut authors share the literary quotes that shaped them

Monocle asked eight debut authors to name their favorite line of literature and explain its influence. Jem Calder (I Want You to Be Happy) chose a line from Cormac McCarthy's Suttree (1979), praising McCarthy's compressed prose. Eden Mckenzie-Goddard (Smallie) picked a quote from Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Grey (1891), linking it to the Windrush scandal. Che Yuen (Tailbone) selected a line from Miranda July's Something That Needs Nothing (2006), noting how both take teenage girls seriously. Eve Esfandiari-Denney (Girling) chose a line from Mei-Mei Berssenbrugge's Consciousness Self-Learns (2018), exploring agency in sensing. Kenan Orhan (The Renovation) selected a line from W.G. Sebald's The Rings of Saturn (1995), reflecting on death and literature. Simukai Chigudu (Chasing Freedom: Coming of Age at the End of Empire) picked a line from Hisham Matar's The Return (2016), connecting it to his father's experience in Zimbabwe. Shannon Kuta Kelly (The Tree is Missing) chose the final line of Octavio Paz's poem As One Listens to the Rain (translated by Eliot Weinberger, 1998), appreciating the veil of translation. Hannah Murray (The Make-Believe) selected a line from Sylvia Plath's Mad Girl's Love Song (1953), noting its dual interpretation.