The making of Barbara Kingsolver
In Holding the Line, the author’s newly republished account of the 1983 Arizona miners’ strike, the novelist and the reporter…
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The resurrection of John le Carré
In Karla’s Choice the late spy novelist’s son Nick Harkaway has revived George Smiley – but he cannot match the…
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Alan Garner’s living tapestry
The novelist’s creative life was woven from a childhood in northern England’s mythic landscape.
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Sally Rooney: “We’re trapped in a cultural moment”
The author of Intermezzo talks to Fintan O’Toole about living with patriarchy, writing good sex, and the post-religious world.
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JG Ballard’s apocalyptic art
In Empire of the Sun, published 40 years ago, the great novelist turned his childhood experiences in a Japanese prisoner-of-war…
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Robert Harris: “Great politicians are like novelists”
The writer on Keir Starmer, Labour’s “grim” inheritance and his desire to reinvent the past.
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On the kindness of book people
Also this week: Yodelling for Kafka and how water connects us all.
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Elif Shafak’s warning from history
There Are Rivers in the Sky is the Turkish novelist at her ambitious and empathetic best.
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The 2024 International Booker shortlist reviewed
From a Korean Scheherazade to Brazilian spirits, the grief of surviving a suicide to the magic of brief encounters.
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Paul Auster’s literary legacy
The novelist, who has died at the age of 77 in Brooklyn, leaves behind a body of work haunted by…
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2024: The year in fiction
This year’s books highlights include new works from Kevin Barry, Sarah Perry and Ali Smith.
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Notes on trying
For readers and writers, novels require enormous effort. Why do we persist in seeking meaning in their pages?
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Italo Calvino’s imaginary worlds
The Italian writer, born 100 years ago, first sought to reflect political reality – and then to redefine it.
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Kate Briggs: “I took a philosophical vocabulary and offered it to a baby”
The author of the Goldsmiths Prize-shortlisted The Long Form on “patchwork” novels, and why childcare is a political act.
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John le Carré, the great deceiver
The duplicity that defined his spy novels also enabled his relentless pursuit of sexual pleasure.
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The darkness of the secret world: Mick Herron and John Gray in conversation
The bestselling author of the Slough House series and the philosopher discuss spy thrillers, the allure of the Cold War…
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Benjamin Myers: “Historical fiction is not all tabards and turnips”
The author of the Goldsmiths Prize-shortlisted Cuddy on being a heathen, and why he wants to see a ghost.
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Anthony Horowitz Q&A: “I admire Rishi Sunak for his resilience and work ethic”
The novelist on optimism, late-night plot anxiety, and being born 25 years too late.
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Richard Milward: “I use humour as a coping mechanism”
Polari is the “perfect slang for a freewheeling anarchist”, says the author of the Goldsmiths-shortlisted Man-Eating Typewriter.
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The 2023 Goldsmiths Prize shortlist celebrates northern fiction
The award for “fiction at its most novel” is dominated this year by authors from and writing about the north…
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