In this installment of 'My Favourite Author', we examine the influence that favourite authors have had on RLF writers' work, considering the technical, personal and cultural effect that prominent literary figures have had on their admirers.
Polly Morland speaks with Caroline Sanderson about how the skills acquired during a 15-year documentary film-making career fed into her vocational non-fiction writing, allowing her to blend ideas from self-help, psychology and philosophy with reportage of ordinary, yet extraordinary human stories.
Ian Ayris speaks with Ann Morgan about the therapeutic power of storytelling, football’s role in male expression, learning to write in your own voice and discovering the joys of Shakespeare.
Adriana Hunter contemplates the limitations of automated language translation by computers, and the liberties that human translators simply must take with source material.
Brian Clegg considers our human tendency to interpret the world via patterns and categories, and explains the trouble this causes when it comes to getting books into the hands of readers that might enjoy them.
Rebecca Goss speaks with John Greening about collaboration with artists and photographers, the various uses of pamphlets at different stages of a writing career, her return to Suffolk and curiosity about rural life and the continuing importance of loving the process of writing.
Rebecca Goss speaks with John Greening about the poetry collection Her Birth and the process of writing it, starting out as a writer and the influence of English teachers, pushing herself in new directions with language in Girl and fighting to break away from couplets.
RLF writers lay out their reasons for calling someone their favourite author, exploring the role that biography, style, message and childhood influences play in fostering powerful affinities.
Clare Chambers speaks with Ann Morgan about the experience of having a breakout success, the secret to creating convincing historical settings, the disruptive influence of mobile phones on storytelling and the importance of balancing pessimism and optimism in a writing career.
Dilys Rose speaks with Doug Johnstone about her literary work including poetry, short stories, novels and historical fiction, the different technical challenges of each form, her collaborations with composers and artists and her own visual arts practice.
Ann Morgan and our host Julia Copus speak about three objects that have a special significance in Ann's writing life, and Ann passes on three of her top writing tips.