The young women in my classes are feisty and clever and believe, often with the passion of youthful optimism, that feminism is a battle already won. I worry for them - and for my daughters, too.

When I was a child and teenager I read whenever I had the opportunity, but since then I've found it hard to read as much as I'd like, children, work, and pets all providing powerful incentives to escape into a book and a practical reason why I rarely do so.

Never give up. And most importantly, be true to yourself. Write from your heart, in your own voice, and about what you believe in.

I could write an entertaining novel about rejection slips, but I fear it would be overly long.

I don't envy men and I certainly wouldn't like to become one now.

If you can't return a favor, pass it on.

The richest most meaningful stories are found in small places: made, carried, crafted, told, and retold by apparently unimportant people.

Don't write the book you think publishers want to commission. Plenty of other writers will be doing the same thing.

I can't pick out one single book that had such a profound personal impact.

I have a good collection of cookery books. This is not so much because I like cooking, but because I like eating.

I like many types of music and probably too many to mention here.

I never felt any different from anyone else though.

I thought it was something peculiar to me. I thought I was abnormal.

I'm working on a nonfiction book on Nepal and a novel about diasporas.

People still come up to me and ask whether I am Louise Brown or if they've seen me somewhere else before.

Reading is my greatest luxury.

Remember that what you have is unique because it's your own special way of looking at the world.

Then I obviously didn't understand what it all meant, but I do now.

When dad told me Mr Steptoe had passed away, I broke down.

Every year I teach dozens of students at the University of Birmingham. Most of the students on the gender and sexuality courses are women. I guess this is because the boys don't think that gender applies to them: that it's a subject for girls.