Hugh Thomson explains how he started out as a travel writer, and why Peru has exerted a lifelong fascination.

Fiona Shaw tells Frances Byrnes of how she felt an affinity with her PhD subject — the poet, Elizabeth Bishop — but never anticipated being a writer herself until severe emotions forced something out of her.

Peter Forbes talks us through a career that has always relied on the power, precision and adaptability of words.

Stephen Wakelam survives changing fashions in TV drama (while at heart staying the same).

Alex Martin speaks with Carole Angier about commissioned non-fiction, games of identity and turning to crime fiction.

Ian Duhig speaks with Julia Copus about his use of form, his collaborations with other artists and the role of poetry in speaking for the oppressed.

Kathy Henderson shares the pleasure of global lullaby collecting, and highlights the enduring importance of this powerful, universal blend of words and music.

Harriet Castor is often asked how she first got published — but why is this question so popular, and is it really the right one to ask?

Jill Dawson tells Frances Byrnes about the importance of 'pleasure not punishment' in writing, the inspiring richness of the Fenland environment, and the barn owl who wanted to be in her novel.

Alex Martin speaks with Carole Angier about his early writing career as he moves from children’s writing, through English language textbooks, to the whimsical delights of decadence.

Jane Feaver examines the nostalgic impulse and its relationship with the pastoral, and celebrates their combined generative power in the act of writing.

Katharine McMahon considers the role that location plays in historical fiction, and at what point a writer should go and explore it.

Ian Duhig speaks with Julia Copus about his early life and work, and the genesis of his well-known and much-loved poem The Lammas Hireling.