Justin Cartwright / Features / Untitled Books

"The first writer who suggested to me that there was serious literature out there was Tolstoy. I read War and Peace right through while in bed with chicken pox aged fourteen."

Justin Cartwright

South Africa-born, London-dwelling Justin Cartwright's novels include the Booker-shortlisted In Every Face I Meet and the Whitbread Novel Award winner Leading the Cheers. He talks love, money and Tolstoy, and the comfort of the London Library.

Where are you right now?
London Library

Where do you write?
At home in Islington, or in London Library.

How do you write?
For novels first draft longhand in spiral bound notebooks, black ink.

What keeps you writing?
Love and money.

Who do you write for?
I like to think for intelligent people who are also interested in the contemporary world and the effect of ideas.

Do you discuss your work with anyone?
Just my agent and my editor.

How do you know if your work is good?
I don't but I trust my own judgement, even when critics disagree.

Do you have any unwritten characters in mind?
Yes. I want to write a book for children with a boy as hero.

Which book do you wish you'd written?
Herzog, by Saul Bellow.

What is your literary guilty pleasure?
James Joyce

Which writer made you want to write?
The first writer who suggested to me that there was serious literature out there was Tolstoy. I read War and Peace right through while in bed with chicken pox aged fourteen.

Who's the most exciting author writing today?
Jonathan Franzen

If you weren't writing you'd be...?
A derelict.

What next?
New book coming out March 2011, writing screenplay of my book Half In Love and writing a short World Book Day novel starting soon.

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Justin Cartwright's latest novel, Other People's Money, is published by Bloomsbury on 7 March.

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Thursday, 24 February, 2011