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20 Questions with Sara Barnard

In the run up to our competition for Children’s and YA novels, we caught up with YA-Book Prize-winning author Sara Barnard to see how she goes about writing her bestselling books. Key takeaways? Cut out distractions with rain sounds, and beat writer’s block by fast-forwarding to a different part of the story

A poem about boys

Poet, playwright and novelist Clare Pollard will be curating the poems and stories on the topic of ‘keys’ for the September edition of Mslexia. Her poem Pollen from Bad Lilies has just been shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best Single Poem and her debut novel Delphi is out now. ‘Boys’ (below) is from her fifth full collection, Incarnation, which charts her experience of being the mother of a boy child.

Unlocking with left-hand writing

It might be slow and awkward but if you let your left hand do the writing, you may access parts of your mind that have not been freely active since you learned to read. Rosie Jackson explains

Walk the line

Christina Sanders on why a short stroll outside can help the words to flow

How to harness the stars in your storytelling

Novelist and astrologer Andrea Hannah explores how astrology can guide your creative process

How to write high concept fiction

Author and writing tutor Katie Khan explores how to conquer the elusive ‘high-concept’ novel

A Woman In Your Own Right

40 years ago, in 1982, Anne Dickson’s no-nonsense assertiveness guide – A Woman In Your Own Right – galvanised a generation of women to say ‘no’ to unreasonable demands on their behaviour, and push for reasonable demands for change. As the book is reissued as an anniversary edition, Dickson explains why the lessons and techniques that were so important 40 years ago are still relevant today

Interview: Alice Oseman

Laura Steven catches up with the YA author/illustrator who’s achieved more by the age of 26 than most writers do in a lifetime

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