Michael Magee: ‘There’s a disbelief at how I’ve ended up’

The Belfast novelist on moving between memoir and fiction in his prize-winning debut, turning down a spot on Granta’s best young British novelists list and why Lords of the Rings was his ‘gateway drug’

Behavioural scientist Michael Norton: ‘When a tennis player ties their shoes in a particular way, they feel they can play at Wimbledon’

The Harvard professor reveals how everyday rituals can help us cope with pressure, unlock our emotions and define our identities

‘I’d love a scathing review’: novelist Percival Everett on American Fiction and rewriting Huckleberry Finn

His work triumphed at the Oscars, but the Booker-shortlisted author isn’t interested in acclaim. He talks to the Guardian about race, taking on Mark Twain and why there’s nothing worse than preaching to the choir

‘The crime writer crime writers read’: Garry Disher, author of 60 books and finding fame in his 70s

The Australian author is ‘incredibly influential’, but has had to survive decades of ‘cultural cringe’ and genre snobbery to make finally ‘a decent sort of living’

‘Teenagers are exhausting’: Teacher and author Carol Atherton on why her profession deserves more respect

The Head of English at a Lincolnshire secondary school discusses the crisis in education and her mission to make literature live for a new generation

Bri Lee: ‘Writing about getting molested is why I now enjoy artistic freedom. That’s cooked’

In the lead-up to the release of her first novel, the author talks about art, cynicism and the human fascination with pain

Weather watcher: why Matt Gaw is a man for all seasons

In his glorious ode to the inclement, author and teacher Matt Gaw reveals how all weathers transform our relationship with the natural world – the secret is to open your senses and immerse yourself

Helen Garner: ‘People would give me death stares in the street’

The novelist and nonfiction writer on her love of courtroom drama, the trials of cancel culture and why she wouldn’t have been a good psychoanalyst

‘I will defeat Richard Osman!’: Holly Jackson on being Britain’s top selling female crime author

The YA novelist talks about her early love of Tomb Raider, true crime and fangirling the cast of the BBC adaptation of A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder

Liu Cixin: ‘I’m often asked – there’s science fiction in China?’

Author of sci-fi epic The Three-Body Problem – newly serialised by Netflix – on ‘the greatest uncertainty facing humanity’ and how finding a secret copy of a Jules Verne novel inspired his career

‘I get into trouble’: Gillian Anderson on being brave, her resting face and much anticipated book of sexual fantasies

Her uncanny portrayals of famous women have brought her legions of fans. Now, as she prepares to play Emily Maitlis in the pivotal Prince Andrew interview, the actor talks to Eva Wiseman about acting, soft drinks and ‘side hustles’

Mat Osman: ‘I wanted to write about a dirty, dangerous, working-class London’

The Suede bassist and author on writing without a safety net, terrifying himself for his next novel and which of the Thursday Murder Club books – by his brother Richard – he likes best

‘Organising is the best kind of antidepressant’: Astra Taylor and Leah Hunt-Hendrix on solidarity

The activists, who first met at Occupy Wall Street in 2011, talk about the limits of protest – and the power of connecting across difference to change the world

Serbian author Barbi Marković: ‘The real horror story is life itself’

The award-winning horror author on stealing from other writers, why she can’t stand pathos and how Mickey Mouse has inspired her new short-story collection Minihorror

‘I don’t think I developed emotionally’: Earl Spencer on the pain of boarding-school abuse

The brother of Diana, princess of Wales, talks about his difficult decision to write about being physically and sexually abused and the resistance he faced from members of his own class