Stories, articles, recommendations and beautiful books from extraordinary writers.
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Joshua Ferris' first book Then We Came to the End created the kind of buzz most writers would kill for, and was met with similarly enviable reviews. Three years later, he's back with The Unnamed, an unsettling take on the road novel. He talks to Viola Fort.
Thursday, 25 February, 2010
Neel Mukerjee's first novel, A Life Apart, is attracting widespread acclaim both here and abroad, he just wishes he'd started it sooner, he tells Beth Jones. More...
Wednesday, 27 January, 2010
The final book in Javier Marías's Your Face Tomorrow trilogy has been met with a critical cheer, and concludes an ambitious exploration of ideas that's been compared with Proust's À la recherche du temps perdu. He talks to Viola Fort. More...
Tuesday, 22 December, 2009
This week, Dave Eggers was awarded the Literarian Award for 'outstanding service to the American literary community'. After nearly a decade of sniping, his critics are finally laying down their barbs and acknowledging his far-reaching contribution to American literature and education. He talks to Eugenie Teasley about inspiring the next generation and the importance of creative collaboration. More...
Thursday, 19 November, 2009
Richard Flanagan's new book Wanting links Dickensian London with a Van Diemen's Land penal colony. Its genesis was a portrait of a young aboriginal girl, whose hidden bare feet suggested to him a tale of desire and its lack. He talks to Viola Fort about its subject Mathinna, his time at Oxford, and the corrupting influence of creative writing courses. More...
Monday, 12 October, 2009
The Irish novelist and journalist John Banville is best known for his Booker prize winning novel The Sea. His exacting prose style divides opinion; damned as heavyweight and digressive by some; hailed as lyrical, wise and flawlessly crafted by others. He talks to Beth Jones. More...
Monday, 7 September, 2009
Helen Oyeyemi wrote her first novel The Icarus Girl in seven weeks while studying for her A levels. Now still only 24, and writing her forth novel, she has already achieved what many writers might expect in a whole career. The writing doesn't get any easier though, she tells Viola Fort. More...
Monday, 20 July, 2009
Amit Chaudhuri negotiates the relationship between teacher and pupil, and the blurring of the lines between audience and artist. He talks to Viola Fort.
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Tuesday, 7 April, 2009
Rana Dasgupta's first novel Tokyo Cancelled drew immediate acclaim and was shortlisted for the 2005 John Llewellyn Rhys prize. He knew he wanted to write something particularly ambitious when he started work on his second book, Solo, a novel of brilliant complexity. He talks to Viola Fort.
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Tuesday, 10 March, 2009
Edmund White, author, playwright and biographer, was born in Ohio in 1940. His breakthrough novel, A Boy's Own Story, drew heavily on his childhood and difficult relationship with his parents, and established him as American literature's foremost gay author. His most recent book is an account of the early life of the French poet Authur Rimbaud. He talks to Beth Jones.
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Monday, 9 February, 2009
Tobias Hill's third novel,The Hidden, weaves between academic Oxford and modern Sparta in a thrilling tale of violence and fear. He explores notions of extremism and the poisoning influence and corruptive power exerted by a group over an individual. Rebecca Yolland meets him.
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Tuesday, 13 January, 2009
We asked our favorite writers to tell us what's on their Christmas wishlist, and which books they'll be giving this year.
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Monday, 8 December, 2008
Russell Hoban talks to Katie McCalmont about his forthcoming novel and why at 83 years old he's proud of what he's done.
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Thursday, 6 November, 2008
Will Self tells Katie McCalmont why he's not like other writers and explains why his new collection of short stories, Liver, is so very nasty.
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Thursday, 2 October, 2008
Aleksandar Hemon's dazzling new novel is all the more remarkable for being written in his second language. Born in Bosnia and now based in the States, questions of identity and belonging sit at the heart of his writing. He talks to Viola Fort. More...
Friday, 5 September, 2008
Kate Summerscale, winner of the prestigious Samuel Johnson prize for non-fiction, talks to Katie McCalmont about her fascinating new book, the shadowy detective who inspired the likes of Wilkie Collins and Charles Dickens, and a child murder that haunted a nation. More...
Friday, 1 August, 2008
Philip Gourevitch's new book Standard Operating Procedure is an investigation into the American human rights violations at Abu Ghraib. H etalks to James Vitus about using the interview as a means to explore a story and applying the principles of the novel to non-fiction. More...
Friday, 4 July, 2008
His reflective, moving and often very funny memoirs have brought Simon Gray a whole new readership outside theatre circles. The third volume, The Last Cigarette, is a triumph. He tells Viola Fort how memory is an act of imagination.
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Friday, 6 June, 2008
Aravind Adiga, political journalist and debut novelist, talks to Rebecca Yolland about rewriting India; forgoing the silk, saris and spices for corruption, sleaze and the rising middle classes. More...
Thursday, 24 April, 2008
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