Maggie O’Farrell: ‘Having to bury a child must be unlike anything else’

Shakespeare’s only son, Hamnet, who died aged 11, is the inspiration for Maggie O’Farrell’s remarkable new novel. She talks about the link between his loss and the bard’s most famous work

Diet, health, inequality: why Britain’s food supply system doesn’t work

Tim Lang, the UK’s leading expert on food policy, says we already faced a challenge unmatched since the war. And things just got worse…

Jami Attenberg: ‘We tend to blame our parents for too long’

The bestselling author on the concept of forgiveness, escaping the women’s fiction box, and her favourite novel about dysfunctional families

Rebecca Solnit: ‘I came to the idea of hope as an activist and writer of history’

The acclaimed US essayist on ‘ambient harassment’, freeing women’s voices – and why she’s looking forward to a date with Mary Beard

Catherine D’Ignazio: ‘Data is never a raw, truthful input – and it is never neutral’

The co-author of Data Feminism on the importance of recognising discrimination in algorithms and introducing measures to stamp it out

‘I’m no snowflake’: Anne Glenconner on Margaret, marriage and Meghan Markle

The former lady-in-waiting’s memoir is a surprise bestseller. She discusses family tragedy and why Princess Margaret was more fun than people think

Maria Tumarkin on winning the 2020 Windham Campbell: ‘It feels like a complicated gift’

The Australian writer discovered she was one of eight to win a share of $1.32m on the day the coronavirus crisis became official

‘After prison, I’m stronger, more vulgar!’: the irrepressible Stella Nyanzi

She was imprisoned for writing a negative poem about Uganda’s president. Never one to be silenced, Nyanzi is back with a radically rude collection

Ali Cobby Eckermann on winning the world’s richest writing prize: ‘It’s taken time to adjust’

Poet lived in a caravan when she heard she had won $215,000. Ahead of this year’s Windham Campbell, she reflects on what that recognition can bring

Annalena McAfee: ‘I enjoyed writing this really rather unpleasant character’

A controlling female artist is at the heart of the author’s new novel. She talks about cruel egos in the art world and the logistics of writing alongside her husband, Ian McEwan

Phyllis Rose: ‘Power still resides in marriage’

The US author on her reissued classic about Victorian literary couples, the danger of ‘cancelling’ writers, and why gossip is underrated

Steven Appleby: ‘Cross-dressing in secret felt dishonest and stifling’

His new graphic novel, Dragman, follows the adventures of a cross-dressing superhero. The artist explains how drawing the character made him realise he’d had enough of leading a double life

Is My Dark Vanessa the most controversial novel of the year? Author Kate Elizabeth Russell speaks out

Exploring issues of abuse and consent, Russell’s novel My Dark Vanessa could not be more timely. She talks about the pressure to write a ‘likeable’ victim and the line between fiction and memoir

Rachel Louise Snyder: ‘Domestic abuse is as common as rain’

Rachel Louise Snyder talks about the personal history behind her award-winning book, No Visible Bruises, which charts the shocking rise of familial violence against women in the US

Evie Wyld: ‘Women are always told to ignore their sixth sense’

The prize-winning novelist on having her drink spiked, repressed female rage and fibbing about her writing routine