Articles

The Name Game

The Name Game

Why names in fiction matter 

Clare Bayley
Clare Bayley reflects on the process of choosing names for characters and gives some famous examples, from Le Carré to Shakespeare, of writers who’ve answered the question: ‘What’s in a name?’ in an intriguing or provocative way.
Should I Have Heard Of You?
In the course of his writing career, Robin Blake has become used to being asked all kinds of questions by members of the public. But what he describes as ‘not really a question at all, but a challenge’ is his least favourite of these.
Speaking Italian, Writing English
Having lived in Italy for twenty years, Tobias Jones has come to realise that his literary style has been affected in more ways than he might have anticipated by his habitual use of Italian. Here he describes how this ‘linguistic exile’ has shaped his writing.
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