Jennifer Egan: ‘Twitter doesn’t make me feel optimistic about human nature’
The Pulitzer prize-winning author discusses her follow up to A Visit from the Goon Squad and how imagining a new technology set her writing free
Jeweller Theo Fennell: ‘Being called the king of bling is better than the prince of darkness’
The high-class jeweller on switching from silversmithing to memoir-writing to keep up with his daughters, including the film-maker Emerald, in lockdown
Harald Jähner: ‘American culture had a very pacifying effect on Germany’
The German author on struggling to forgive his parents’ generation, postwar Germany’s adoption of liberalism and his fondness for 1920s fiction
Cathy O’Neil: ‘Big tech makes use of shame to profit from our interactions’
The mathematician and author talks about the exploitation of our feelings, cancel culture, and why she believes JK Rowling is an example of ‘punching-down shame’
Emily St John Mandel: ‘Readers have tattoos from Station Eleven. It blows my mind’
The Canadian author on how her pandemic novel became a lockdown phenomenon and inspired a hit TV series
‘I’m not scared of war any more’: Death and the Penguin author Andrey Kurkov on life in Kyiv
On a brief visit to London, the Ukrainian novelist talks about why he has no intention of leaving his country – or ever again visiting Russia – his mixed feelings about Zelenskiy, and how he is still keeping his sense of humour
David Peace: ‘Publishers should be less risk-averse’
The novelist on being too literary for crime fiction and too ‘crimey’ for literary fiction, and the mysterious death that concludes his Tokyo trilogy
Ocean Vuong: ‘I was addicted to everything you could crush into a white powder’
The poet and novelist’s latest collection is his first book to be published since the death of his mother. He talks about loss, addiction and performing literary drag
Douglas Stuart on Shuggie Bain and his tough start: ‘Living with an alcoholic, there wasn’t much I didn’t see’
After his autobiographical debut, about a gay boy growing up in 80s Glasgow, comes another tale that draws on his childhood. Could his glittering fashion career ever have kept the Booker-winner from his roots?
John Darnielle: ‘Being an American is like living in a Terry Gilliam world’
The Mountain Goats singer and novelist is using his new novel to interrogate his country’s politics. He talks about ‘castle doctrine’, making an album about his abusive stepfather and why he’s a sucker for things that make him cry
Gurnaik Johal: ‘I am constantly wondering about the lives of others’
The prizewinning author on the Southall riots of the early 80s and his debut collection, inspired by London’s never-ending narratives
‘It just exploded’: The Bad Guys author on writing ‘Tarantino for kids’ – and selling millions
Aaron Blabey decided to improve the boring books his son was bringing home: now his bestseller series is a starry Hollywood animation
TS Eliot’s wife Vivienne died in an asylum. Steven Carroll decided to free her
Over four novels, the award-winning Australian author has picked apart Eliot and his relationships with women – but felt moved to give the poet’s first wife a happier end
Charlotte Philby: ‘We visited Kim in Moscow’
The spy novelist, whose latest book tells the story of her grandfather Kim Philby and the Soviet agent Edith Tudor-Hart, talks about the perils of writing about family, and why female spies get overlooked
Julia Samuel: ‘The princes turned the dial by talking about grief’
In times of tragedy and despair, Julia Samuel is the person to whom the nation turns. A grief counsellor and pioneer of paediatric psychotherapy, she talks about the effects of the pandemic, her friendship with Princess Diana – and helping families to resolve their conflicts