Black Girl / White Girl Joyce Carol Oates
Ruins First Aid Kit
Patrick Melrose Now TV
A playlist for The Versions of Us, and for my writing life so far
My top seven risk-taking novels, including Cloud Atlas, The Night Watch and Mrs Dalloway, for Read It Forward
Why am I so compelled to read fiction set in the places I am visiting? I discuss the joys and perils of literary tourism for LitHub.com
Where do ideas come from, and how does an author know which one to choose? I wrote about this for The Guardian.
My life as a migraine sufferer, dissected for British Vogue, March 2016.
I discuss some of the many novels that have had the greatest influence on me as a writer.
Music underpins The Versions of Us. Here, I give a little more background to why I chose the various pieces of music that run through the novel – as chosen for three different Spotify playlists.
How does an author research the locations in which his or her novel is set? I wrote about my own experience of this for the Richard and Judy Book Club.
A piece for The Guardian about how to graciously accept a gift we no longer love – yet which reminds us, painfully, of someone we greatly miss.
I spoke to four people who’ve sat for painter Frank Auerbach, every week for up to 40 years.
Gugu Mbatha-Raw is excellent in this entertaining look at the life and times of Nell Gwynn
This new play by Simon Stephens, directed by Ivo van Hove, never quite lives up to its initial promise.
A touching, beautifully observed new play by young West Country writer Bea Roberts
Some of my favourite romantic novels with a difference – from The Time Traveler’s Wife to Revolutionary Road – as chosen for the Daily Express
I wrote an article describing some of my own most important ‘what if’ moments
An interview for ES magazine as part of a feature on hot summer reads, July 2015
My late step grandmother, Anita Bild, partly inspired the story of Eva Edelstein’s family in The Versions of Us. I wrote about my real-life relationship with Anita for The Guardian’s Family section.
I interview three couples who found love later in life for Guardian Weekend magazine
Chilling warning of virtual paedophilia in a dystopian future
Last week’s Green Man festival featured the final gig by Fife’s Fence Records collective. It marked the end of an era
Do resale websites selling seats to hit shows at grossly inflated prices pose a genuine threat to London’s theatreland?
‘I’ll be telling stories I probably shouldn’t’
This controversial musical about US marines on the eve of war is a critique not a celebration of macho posturing
This is a bold retelling of a history-shaping episode from India’s past
‘highly enjoyable, not always convincing’
She has filmed a helicopter ballet, melted a jet – and caused a storm by transcribing a porn epic. Will Fiona Banner’s latest work go further?
‘Once’ is no ordinary long-runner. It has redefined the possibility of turning a large-scale musical into an intimate event
Ever dreamed of packing it all in and becoming an artist? Meet four people who prove it’s never too late to follow your heart
She’s not a feminist, but says women are born creative. Juliette Binoche talks about her spat with Gérard Depardieu, bad reviews – and why acting is like peeling onions
Harriet Walter and her husband Guy Paul perform with great delicacy in this thoughtful examination of a marriage
One of a regular series I did for a while for Guardian Review
‘visceral and vital’
For years Hannah Moss was unable to speak to her mother and sister about her father’s death from cancer.
Laura Barnett on a male interloper
A remarkable snapshot of the health service
‘You’re the face of London: go to it folks’
Mommy porn?: Fifty Shades of Grey by EL James: review
Fireworks (Al’ab Nariya) review – fierce, tender account of Palestinian families
Actors’ advice to actors: ‘Costumes catching fire can be fun’
Ruby Wax’s new stage show is about anxiety, rehab and the finer points of neuroscience – but it’ll still make you laugh
Antony Sher: ‘People think actors are in control of their careers’
Mira Schendel: the refugee from Nazi Europe who settled in São Paulo
Why would a band choose to launch their new album with a tour of psychiatric hospitals?
‘Social networking is good, but there’s no substitute for a good chinwag’
Alinah Azadeh and her young family faced losing their home, but she walked out of court finally feeling unafraid about the future
Laura Barnett celebrates the comic potential of family get-togethers
Patrick Melrose
