Author Interviews | Page 1

David Almond | 'The North is a culturally rich place to be, it’s just how it is'

Award-winning writer David Almond reflects on how his broad backlist has been influenced by his surroundings. Read more

Deborah Moggach | 'I do think we mistake solemnity for seriousness'

In her latest novel, author and screenwriter Deborah Moggach delves into the relationship between us and those who care for us. Read more

Lydia Monks | 'Everyone should have a farmyard picture book in their portfolio'

Ahead of the 10th birthday of What the Ladybird Heard, Lydia Monks reviews her career so far. Read more

David Nicholls | 'I didn’t want to do another 50-something man fretting and worrying again'

David Nicholls’ latest recalls the life-changing events of one summer as a man looks back on his first love. Read more

Lisa Taddeo | 'It’s the nuances of desire that hold the truth of who we are at our rawest moments'

Lisa Taddeo spent hundreds of hours with three women in order to document their love lives in a frank look at desire. Read more

Shahidha Bari | 'Fashion is one of the most polluting industries in the world'

Shahidha Bari’s rumination on the function of clothing, as well as its depiction in art through the centuries, is a sprawling and illuminating read.... Read more

Nathan Filer | 'The Heartland came directly out of the interactions I had as a result of The Shock of the Fall'

Inspired by the response to his award-winning début novel, The Shock of the Fall, former mental health nurse Nathan Filer has turned his hand to... Read more

Abi Elphinstone | 'I think it is important to write about characters who pick themselves up'

Abi Elphinstone discusses her new Middle Grade series, inspired by the Scottish wilds of her youth. Read more

Kerry Hudson | 'I want to do as much as I can to get this book to young people [who are] like I was'

Following two prize-winning novels, Kerry Hudson has written a redemptive memoir in which she revisits the locations of her poor working-class childhood. Read more

Elizabeth Macneal | 'I wanted to understand the women in their movement, more than the men'

Elizabeth Macneal reveals both the macabre and painterly inspirations behind her sought-after debut The Doll Factory. Read more

Thomas Taylor | 'I want the reader to supply their own monster as much as possible'

Illustrator Thomas Taylor puts his storytelling skills to good use in a middle-grade seaside mystery. Read more

Beth O'Leary | 'I wrote almost all the book on the train...'

Former Penguin Random House Children’s staffer Beth O’Leary draws upon her own experience of renting in London in her début novel, written largely on her... Read more

Zanib Mian | 'I want Muslim children to have a character they can relate to'

Former school teacher Zanib Mian has teamed up with Hodder to bring her prize-winning self-published novel about a Muslim boy into the mainstream. Read more

Jeffrey Boakye | 'I feel like the debate is opening, but it’s not always a safe debate'

Schoolteacher and writer Jeffrey Boakye’s second book is a charismatic and entertaining attempt "to explore the central nervous system of racial semiotics". Read more

Isabella Hammad | 'I think it’s best to take the hype with a pinch of salt'

A sprawling first novel by Isabella Hammad, set in Palestine and Paris in the early 20th century, feels both contemporary and classic—and its roots are... Read more