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All Seasons

Season 1

  • S01E01 Ian McEwan

    • April 6, 2010
    • BBC News

    Razia Iqbal asks Ian McEwan about his latest novel, Solar, and how he copes with being seen as our national novelist.

  • S01E02 Philip Pullman

    • April 11, 2010
    • BBC News

    Razia Iqbal talks to Philip Pullman and asks him what lies behind his radical reworking of the Bible stories, The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ.

  • S01E03 Hanif Kureishi

    • April 18, 2010
    • BBC News

    Hanif Kureishi talks to Razia Iqbal about his recently published collected short stories and how his writing has tracked social and personal change in the last 25 years.

  • S01E04 Andrea Levy

    • April 26, 2010
    • BBC News

    Andrea Levy's Small Island won the Orange Prize in 2004. Razia Iqbal talks to her about the pressures of writing another book after such success.

  • S01E05 Victoria Hislop

    • May 2, 2010
    • BBC News

    Victoria Hislop has written two books but already she is a bestseller, her books deal with family secrets and historical events. She talks to Razia Iqbal.

  • S01E06 PD James

    • May 8, 2010
    • BBC News

    Razia Iqbal asks PD James about the complexities of writing crime novels that are more than puzzles for the reader to solve.

  • S01E07 David Grossman

    • September 18, 2010
    • BBC News

    Razia Iqbal talks to the Israeli writer David Grossman. His book To The End of the Land chronicles the life of Ora and her family as she tries to live in a country riven by wars.

  • S01E08 Robert Harris

    • September 25, 2010
    • BBC News

    The UK's bestselling authors discuss their new work, their ideas and being an author. Razia Iqbal asks Robert Harris how much the New Labour era has informed his fiction.

  • S01E09 Michael Morpugo

    • October 2, 2010
    • BBC News

    Critically acclaimed authors discuss their work. Michael Morpurgo explains why his books for children tackle subjects such as war, loss and injustice.

  • S01E10 Jonathan Franzen

    • October 9, 2010
    • BBC News

    Razia Iqbal discusses Jonathan Franzen's new novel 'Freedom', his long awaited follow up to 'The Corrections'.

  • S01E11 Salman Rushdie

    • October 16, 2010
    • BBC News

    Sir Salman Rushdie tells Razia Iqbal why he wrote his new book, Luka and the Fire of Life, for his second son, Milan.

  • S01E12 Tony Harrison

    • October 23, 2010
    • BBC News

    Tony Harrison has been described by critics as the 'alternative poet laureate', and has shocked and challenged audiences with his work. He talks to Razia Iqbal.

  • S01E13 Rose Tremain

    • October 30, 2010
    • BBC News

    Razia Iqbal talks to Rose Tremain about asks her about her latest novel, Trespass, as well as her ideas and being an author in the 21st century.

  • S01E14 Colm Toibin

    • November 6, 2010
    • BBC News

    Colm Toibin's most recent novel, Brooklyn, was a bestseller, winning the Costa Book award in 2009. Razia Iqbal talks to him about his writing style and the influence of the great Irish writers of the past.

Season 2

  • S02E01 Alaa Al Aswany

    • November 20, 2011

    Razia Iqbal talks to novelist Alaa Al Aswany, author of the bestselling Yacoubian Building and one of Egypt's most prominent writers.

Season 3

  • S03E01 Tracy Chevalier

    • September 8, 2013

    Bestselling historical novelist Tracy Chevalier talks to Gavin Esler about why hands-on research is vital to her as a writer. Why does she want to bring the past to life?