Rebecca Watson: ‘This novel was never an act of catharsis’

The Goldsmiths prize-shortlisted author of little scratch on being mistaken for the book’s protagonist, conveying the ‘immediate present-tense experience’, and why her next novel is even more ambitious

‘The clap for the NHS meant nothing’: novelist turned doctor Roopa Farooki on her frontline experience of Covid

When the writer retrained in medicine, she never imagined she’d be working through a pandemic. She describes how she has coped with the everyday tragedy by putting her experience into words

‘I yelled with joy’: how Caleb Azumah Nelson went from Apple store employee to Costa First Novel award winner

The London writer on the success of his first book, Open Water, the limitations of masculinity and why his writing shouldn’t be compared to Sally Rooney’s

John Simpson: ‘Like most men, I’m amazingly good at forgiving myself’

The BBC stalwart on breaking down over the plight of an Afghan family, his new current affairs show – and failing to be enthused by Emily in Paris

‘I read the book out to the girls. It was really tough’: Andrea Elliott on writing about New York’s homeless children

The Pulitzer-winning New York Times journalist talks about her new book, Invisible Child, which records the experiences of a young girl growing up homeless in Brooklyn

Isabel Allende: ‘I still have the same rage’

The renowned author on the unfinished task of replacing the patriarchy, swapping 24,000 letters with her mother, and why she gives all her books away

Carl Bernstein: ‘Our democracy, before Trump, had ceased to be working well’

The acclaimed journalist talks about life before Watergate, as portrayed in his new book Chasing History, and life after Trump

‘He was a handful’ – Hunter S Thompson’s PA and photographer relives her wild job

She cooked his weird dinners, dealt with his volcanic rants, and read his prose back to him from dark till dawn. As Chloe Sells’ photographs of the gonzo writer’s chaotic Colorado cabin are published, she remembers an invigorating, inspirational figure

Patricia Lockwood: ‘I think Brits like my criticism more than Americans do’

The US novelist on writing about her niece’s death, her ‘meaningful’ crystal egg and her fantasy life as a standup comic

Hanya Yanagihara: ‘I have the right to write about whatever I want’

The author of A Little Life on exploring the unfamiliar voice, her third novel To Paradise, and how she got her unflinching eye

Novelist Tessa Hadley: ‘If I met my characters, I might not like them’

For the late-blooming, quietly bestselling author, inhabiting her characters is crucial. And so in her new novel, Free Love, she becomes a middle-aged woman in 1960s London who abandons her family for a much younger man

Harlan Coben: ‘I used to write in the back of Ubers’

The writer, 59, on working in a disco, being an introvert and growing up Jewish

Always wanted to write? Booker winner George Saunders on how to get started

The Booker winner discusses work, wisdom and the drive to teach, plus seven key tips on how to write well

Raven Leilani: ‘I was flying by the seat of my pants’

The author on late-night writing sessions, vulnerability, and rediscovering her love of painting during lockdown

‘Many hold Gove responsible’: education guru sets out what’s wrong with England’s schools

People are yearning for a new educational age, says Sir Tim Brighouse in his new book with Mick Waters