Colm Tóibín: ‘Ireland today is a much freer place’

The Irish author on how the sequel to his bestselling novel Brooklyn was inspired by the film, life in LA, and his thoughts on Trump’s victory

Richard Flanagan: ‘I’m not sure that I will write again’

The Tasmanian novelist – whose latest book, Question 7, is up for both fiction and nonfiction prizes – on HG Wells, the TV adaptation of his Booker prize winner The Narrow Road to the Deep North… and his much-missed parrot, Herb

‘We’ve become distrustful of each other’: Braiding Sweetgrass author Robin Wall Kimmerer on Trump, rural America and resistance

Her last book sold 2m copies. Now the Native American ecologist is taking on capitalism. She talks about how the ‘gift economy’ could heal divisions across the US

Peter Carey on Jack Maggs and snubbing the Queen: ‘I thought she was a relic’

As the stage version of his take on Great Expectations opens in Adelaide, the novelist looks back at a right royal kerfuffle – and a memorable encounter with a London cabby

‘I’m so not an astronaut!’ Samantha Harvey on her Booker-winning space novel – and the anxiety that drove it

She won the top prize with a time-distorted novel set on the International Space Station. Yet, the writer reveals, Orbital is actually ‘a celebration of Earth’s beauty with a pang of loss’ – fuelled by her anxiety-induced insomnia

The exile of Mosab Abu Toha: how a Gazan poet was forced to flee his home

His house was bombed and his relatives killed, before he escaped to the US. Now he is on a relentless, restless drive to tell the stories of all those left behind

Granta publisher Sigrid Rausing: ‘Working while grieving was consoling’

The editor and author on completing the memoir by her late friend, Swedish writer Johanna Ekström, where she stands on the assisted dying bill and what she’s reading

On my radar: Monty Don’s cultural highlights

The Gardeners’ World presenter on being a sucker for spy stories, pub nights in the early 70s, and having his prejudices challenged by a gigantic floral dog

‘Why do I have an interest in such horrible things?’: Emmanuel Carrère on the Paris terror attacks trial

The acclaimed French author attended the trial - the longest in French legal history – every day. As his gripping courtroom chronicle is published, he talks about trauma, justice – and being drawn to the darkest of stories

David Stratton on a life reviewing films – and the one TV show he thinks is ‘pretty damn good’

The 85-year-old critic has finished his huge history of Australian cinema from 1990 to 2020 – which involved rewatching 650 films. So which beloved classic has he changed his mind about?

Anne Michaels: ‘Language can’t represent brutality’

The Booker-shortlisted author on her inability to compromise, her friendship with John Berger, and the last book she gave as a gift

Maggie O’Farrell: ‘Having a stammer was instrumental in making me a writer’

The novelist, 52, talks about teenage affliction, the missing elements in stories and always loving Where the Wild Things Are

‘I am the industry!’: Keke Palmer on being Hollywood’s queen of content

Singer, gameshow host, podcaster – the actor has built a reputation for doing it all. And with an autobiography/self-help guide coming soon, she’s out to prove there’s nothing wrong with being a jack of all trades

Deborah Levy: ‘A writer’s career is choppy – I was 50 when I found success’

Her ‘living autobiographies’ and novels have earned her legions of fans, but that success was hard won. Deborah Levy talks about stamina, boldness, and finding delight in the details

Alan Bennett at 90: ‘What will people think? I don’t care any more’

In his 10th decade The History Boys writer is as prolific as ever with a war film in the works and a new sex-fuelled novella set in a home for the elderly. He talks about mourning Maggie Smith, turning down a knighthood and what he makes of Donald Trump