The centrepiece of this year's Edinburgh International Book festival has been a recreation of a 1962 conference debating the state and future of fiction. Over five days, 50 writers from around the world gathered for daily two-hour sessions debating the issues identified 50 years ago: should literature be political, style versus content, is there such thing as a national literature, censorship, and the future of the novel.

We have carried the opening polemics on the website over the course of the conference, so decided to devote this podcast to finding out what some of the other delegates attending the conference felt, asking them how relevant are the questions posed today, how do the issues differ from country to country, and is it possible to identify a way forward.

Our interviewees hailed from everywhere from Argentina to Pakistan, Boston to Beijing: they include Junot Diaz, Elif Shafak, Kamila Shamsie, Alan Bissett, Patrick Ness, Carlos Gamerro, Denise Mina and Xi Chuan.

Reading list: the polemics

Ahdaf Souief: should literature be political
Ali Smith: style vs content
Irvine Welsh: is there such a thing as a national literature
Patrick Ness: censorship
China Miéville: the future of the novel