“When I write it’s more a process of listening.”

—  P. L. Travers

The Paris Review interview (1982)
Context: When I write it’s more a process of listening. I don’t pretend that there is some spirit standing beside me that tells me things. More and more I’ve become convinced that the great treasure to possess is the unknown. I’m going to write, I hope, a lot about that. It’s with my unknowing that I come to the myths. If I came to them knowing, I would have nothing to learn. But I bring my unknowing, which is a tangible thing, a clear space, something that’s been made room for out of the muddle of ordinary psychic stuff, an empty space.

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P. L. Travers photo
P. L. Travers57
Australian-British novelist, actress and journalist 1899–1996

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