Atonement, Enduring Love, Amsterdam, now The Children Act: Ian McEwan is a classic English writer during his own lifetime. His latest offering, about a high court judge presiding over the case of a family refusing medical care to their terminally ill child on religious grounds, is both challenging and hugely topical.

In a Guardian event held at The Cadogan Hall, Ian McEwan spoke to the Guardian’s Jonathan Freedland about writing, family and current affairs. Here are some of the highlights:

It started with considerable excitement, for some:

The release of The Children Act, which revolves around a legal battle over the medical care of a child, is unexpectedly timely with the ongoing case of Ashya King. Ian spoke about the case, saying it appeared to him to be “one of those cascades of chaos that follow through bureaucracy”:

Ian spoke about the darkness of current news events, saying: “The unforetellable of nature of events in eastern Ukraine, Rotherham, Ebola, northern Iraq – sometimes I feel like a rabbit in the headlights.”

Ian expanded on his thoughts on religion, talking about the reaction of parts of the media when he expressed his opinions on Islam after a fatwa was issued against his friend and fellow author, Salman Rushdie. McEwan sheltered Rushdie in his cottage in the Cotswolds the night the fatwa was declared.

Ian spoke about specific current events, like fellow author Will Self’s comments about George Orwell, published earlier that day:

... as well as readdressing his own controversial comments, about novels being too long. “I resent the implication by some writers that if I write a short novel, it is because I can’t write a long one,” he said. “I always feel behind these conversations we’re really talking about sexual prowess... size matters.”

Overall, the feeling among established McEwan fans was that he was on good form:

You can listen to Ian McEwan’s Guardian reader event on the Guardian books podcast.

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