Jonathan Coe: ‘People say, where’s the anger? It’s still there’

The acclaimed author on writing his most personal novel to date, finding inspiration on Twitter, and why he was horrified by Granta’s list of the best young British writers

Jo Ann Beard: ‘Nothing in writing is ever particularly enjoyable to me’

The American essayist on feeling panicky about how her subjects will react, the relief of typing ‘The End’, and why she won’t reveal her bedside reads

Lisa Jewell: ‘I once read 40 Agatha Christie novels in a year’

The London novelist on reading Dickens at 11 years old, being inspired by Nick Hornby and why she never reads the same book twice

‘I wanted to be No 1. But a certain JK Rowling came along’: Jacqueline Wilson on rivalry, censorship – and love

Raised by a ‘scary’ father and a ‘terrible snob’ of a mother, the Tracy Beaker author has always understood the loneliness that marks so many young lives. But at 77, she’s never been happier

The BBC’s Fergal Keane: ‘The breakdowns get harder to recover from each time’

The former BBC war reporter, now special correspondent, on the terror of PTSD, his tips for living with it day to day, and the people and poets he admires

Thomas Morris: ‘A lot of people in my life seem anxious and confused. I was writing for them as much as me’

The short story writer and former literary magazine editor on the respect afforded the arts in Ireland, how his stories often take him by surprise and his love of the Welsh football team

Pam Ayres: ‘I inherited a love of English from my mother’

The poet, 76, tells Donna Ferguson about deference, dialect and her dreams of becoming a ballerina, and reveals the secret of a happy marriage

Mecca Jamilah Sullivan: ‘The culture of disordered eating and dieting is still thriving’

The American writer on her debut novel about weight and womanhood set in 90s Harlem, how her mother’s Black feminist books changed her life and writing a work of hip-hop magic realism

‘I could have gone to jail’: crime writer MW Craven on a life made up of spontaneous decisions

The author, who won the 2023 Theakston Old Peculier crime novel of the year for The Botanist, talks about his working-class childhood, his former careers as a soldier and a probation officer – and surviving cancer

Laura Lippman: ‘A lot of novelists choose to comfort the comfortable. I don’t do that’

The acclaimed crime author delivers her most political novel to date about a teen with an unwanted pregnancy

‘It’s some sort of cosmic joke’: Tracy Sorensen wrote a book about surviving cancer. Now it has returned

Sorensen’s new novel The Vitals is narrated by her own organs during her cancer treatment a decade ago. But as she prepared to promote it, she found herself ‘back in cancer land’

‘I see them as cautionary tales’: Kristine Potter’s darkly imagined American south

Inspired by the American murder ballad the photographer captures a strangely familiar psychogeography

JO Morgan: ‘I think I do books that may sound strange’

The prize-winning poet and novelist on writing and book binding, his wariness of new technology and why literature is the ultimate immersive experience

‘In a world that is going to hell, there is still so much joy’: Ann Patchett on finding happiness

The Nashville author’s essay, These Precious Days, prompted a global outpouring of love, and her new book celebrates the wonder of ordinary life. She talks about running a bookshop, resisting censorship and taking inspiration from Madonna

‘I’m horrified by it. I think it’s appalling’: Kit de Waal on the crisis of cuts facing the arts

The bestselling author is in no doubt who is to blame when it comes to the state of the arts. She talks about the importance of culture, her inclusive book festival and using her voice to help