A virtuoso of the short story, Lydia Davis's work is surprising and memorable

In her prizewinning fiction, Sigrid Nunez deals with life — and death — with empathy and wit

Looking back at A.S. Byatt, the celebrated English novelist and imaginative intellectual

Nora Krug asks tough questions about her German family's wartime past

Vietnam veteran Tim O'Brien on fictionalizing his war stories

Jesmyn Ward on exploring the stories of America's South

Jeanette Winterson brings humour and understanding to a fraught childhood

How John Grisham turned his passion for justice into bestselling legal thrillers

Viet Thanh Nguyen on redefining what it means to be a refugee

Anne Enright on her Booker-winning novel, The Gathering, and how Canada helped make her a writer

Abenaki filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin on her legendary career and the power of storytelling

Chinese writer Yan Ge finds solace in creating literary worlds

Novelist Sebastian Barry explores the personal stories behind Ireland's political history

Polish filmmaker Agnieszka Holland examines moral choice in an immoral world

Zadie Smith on writing, family and her addiction to reading

John le Carré on his legacy as a spy-turned-novelist

Oliver Sacks on how an unconventional childhood shaped his love of science

Toni Morrison on family bonds, race and coping with personal tragedy

Acclaimed poet Mark Strand was known for meditative, spare verse that was anything but simple

Julian Barnes on love, loss and Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich