When you’re a Jet and a Shark: West Side Story’s George Chakiris

The Oscar-winning star portrayed rival gang leaders in the stage and screen versions of the classic musical. He remembers dancing with Marilyn Monroe, playing Dracula and his role as a trombone

Salena Godden: ‘I’m a furious and emotional woman — when things pop up I have to talk’

The taboo-busting poet has written her first novel, Mrs Death Misses Death. She talks about missing performing and why Brits struggle to speak about her novel’s all too timely subject

‘I’m immune to success’: Henry Lloyd-Hughes on fame, family and playing Sherlock Holmes

The 35-year-old actor has a glittering CV, but few people could pick him out of a lineup. Could his grimy take on the Baker Street sleuth in Netflix show The Irregulars change that?

Richard Thompson: ‘I had to put the pen down, take a deep breath, have a little cry’

The folk-rock pioneer has finally written his memoir, covering a life-changing crash and his fiery romance with Linda Thompson

Alan Warner: ‘I’m addicted to rereading a Brian Eno biog’

The Scottish novelist on the difficulty of writing about rock music, why there’s nothing wrong with monotony, and a lost opportunity with Irvine Welsh and Billy Connolly

‘Every monster has a story’: Catriona Ward on her chilling gothic novel

The Last House on Needless Street is partly narrated by a cat, has been praised by Stephen King and is set to be her breakout hit. The novelist talks about her fascination with horror

‘I learned about storytelling from Final Fantasy’: novelist Raven Leilani on Luster and video games

Drawing on her own cathartic relationship with role-playing games, Leilani uses gaming as a narrative device and an inspiration in her acclaimed debut

‘They were treated terribly’ – why ‘lad lit’ veteran Mike Gayle is finally tackling racism

He just became the first male writer ever to win romantic fiction’s top award. The former agony uncle explains why his latest novel looks back at the ‘virulent’ prejudice of 1950s Britain

Naomi Klein: ‘We shouldn’t be surprised that kids are radicalised’

With How to Change Everything, the activist has written her first book for young people. She explains how she has been inspired by a new, very young generation of protesters

War brides, spies and burning bookshops: Marina Warner on writing her memoir

Famous for her study of fairytales, what happened when Warner decided to tell her own story? She talks about the remarkable family legends behind her ‘unreliable’ memoir

‘It is the question of the century’: will tech solve the climate crisis – or make it worse?

Robots on coral reefs, vast barriers to hold back the glaciers, simulated volcanic eruptions to offset global heating ... Can technology repair the mess we have made? Elizabeth Kolbert is not convinced

George M Johnson: ‘Queer characters tend to die at the end of books’

The bestselling author on their memoir about growing up gay and black in the US, helping others to find healing, and the power of non-binary young adults

Megan Nolan: ‘When I think back, the way I drank was crazy. Everyone I knew did it’

The novelist talks about the heartache and hedonism that inspired her debut – and how writing helped her find a way out of the chaos of young adult life

Sally Bayley: what Shakespeare taught me about my family

Falstaff, Mistress Quickly and the fairy rulers of A Midsummer Night’s Dream helped the author through a traumatic childhood and feature in her memoir No Boys Play Here

Netflix smash Behind Her Eyes: Sarah Pinborough on writing ‘that ending’

Her duplicitous love triangle story is a hit – but some viewers are calling its mind-boggling twist ‘preposterous’. The horror and sci-fi veteran turned thriller-writer hits back