Books and Authors
Books and authors - clips and interviews of authors on Radio 4
Michael Sheen: 'I read everything by Neil Gaiman'
Actor Michael Sheen describes his long-held love of Neil Gaiman's writing.
"I looked back and watched, helpless, as the shoreline raced away from me."
Penny Downie reads an extract from Judith Tebbutt's 'A Long Walk Home'.
Neil Gaiman on The Ocean at the End of the Lane
Neil Gaiman tells Nick Briggs about his book, The Ocean at the End of the Lane.
"Communism. Now there's a fairy tale..."
Olivia Hanninan reads an extract from Jennie Rooney's 'Red Joan'.
Mirror Tracing
Deborah Weston reads an extract from Suzanne Corkin's Permanent Present Tense.
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"What happened when Henry looked in the mirror?"
Debora Weston reads an extract from Suzanne Corkin's Permanent Present Tense.
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'Ideas are like supermarket trolleys rattling around in my head'
Crime writer Val McDermid talks about the lengthy process of developing ideas for stories.
"Stalin walks through the park, thinking..."
Michael Maloney reads an extract from Florian Illies's 1913.
Sarah Courtauld on Looking Sadly Out of Windows
Sarah Courtauld discusses her short story, with a clip read by Daisy Haggard.
"They also gambled on tulip futures."
Deborah Moggach discusses her novel Tulip Fever.
The Norfolk Mystery
Julian Rhind-Tutt reads an extract from Ian Sansom's new thriller, The Norfolk Mystery.
The revolutionary potential of poetry
David Peace on how poetry of the Russian Revolution was an inspiration for Red or Dead.
"I actually felt physically sick writing that scene"
A gay man, married for 19 years with 2 daughters, admits to his wife that he's homosexual.
Alyn Shipton explains why he wrote about Nilsson
"Harry Nilsson was one of the very few pop musicians of the 60s and 70s with no biography"
Harry Nilsson’s best-known song - Everybody’s Talkin’
Kerry Shale reads from ‘Nilsson: The Life of a Singer Songwriter’ by Alyn Shipton.
"You can see that I have the disposition of a hobbit"
Paul Theroux responds to a reader who suggests he can come across as grumpy.
Eleanor Catton on her new novel, The Luminaries
Set in New Zealand in the 1860's, The Luminaries is long listed for the Man Booker Prize.
Novelist NoViolet Bulawayo talks to Jane Garvey
NoViolet Bulawayo's novel, We Need New Names, is shortlisted for the 2013 Man Booker Prize
'Her biggest achievement was to bring China into the modern age'
Jung Chang talks about her book. Photo by Jon Halliday.
'I thought perhaps the communists had done something to stop foot binding'
Jung Chang talks about her book. Photo by Jon Halliday.
Ian McEwan - "I thought it was a wonderful story"
Ian McEwan discusses Tatiana Salem Levy's 'Lost Time' with BBC Brasil's Monica Vasconcelos
Hilary Mantel on how a dog's pawprint affected her writing
Hilary Mantel discusses 'Bringing Up the Bodies' with James Naughtie.
"Behaviour that's admired is the path to power among people everywhere."
Seamus Heaney brings his writing to life as he reads from his translation of Beowulf.
"She lands in Buenos Aires on a hot February day"
Rebecca Callard reads an extract from Paloma Vidal's story 'Asi Es La Vida - That's Life'
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