Why do you write?

I think we all write out of a mixture of egoism and a need to work out how we understand the world – ‘writing as therapy’. Luckily, I have only rarely felt the need to write to fulfil the demands of academia, which are producing vast amounts of ‘writing’ that benefits no one and is a strain on those forced to produce it.

Are you a vivid dreamer?

Yes, and not always happily. Since my partner, Anthony Smith, died last year, many of my dreams have been about him in ways that can be quite traumatic.