By Katie Farr, Ayman Sabir, Lucy Powell, Jess Scaffidi Saggio and Iona Fleming
We’ve interviewed a lot of fantastic authors during our time writing for the magazine. From authors of fiction to non-fiction and romance to sci-fi, when it comes to choosing who to feature next, we know we’re spoilt for choice. Getting to hear how these authors approach their writing processes, asking questions about their upcoming novels or just simply gushing over their characters, there’s a lot to enjoy about getting a behind the scenes insight from the writers themselves.
In this article, we share some of our personal wishlist authors, with each member of the team selecting those who we’d love to feature in future issues of The Publishing Post.
Katie: My pie-in-the-sky dream of an author I’d love to interview would be Elena Ferrante. The famously reclusive author (though many have tried to reveal her identity) only ever allows herself to be interviewed via email – not a problem for us, as we are very used to interviewing authors in that way! I always love to ask writers about their process and writing journey, something that Ferrante has written about so beautifully in her non-fiction works, such as Frantumaglia. I would also love to ask how she feels about the upcoming final season of My Brilliant Friend, the TV adaptation of her Neapolitan novels. Plus, it would be a great opportunity to find out when we might have another Elena Ferrante novel to enjoy.
Ayman: I would love to interview Hafsah Faizal, author of the Sands of Arawiya series. The New York Times bestselling author has an incredible skill of creating fantasy worlds that are so intricately detailed and complex. The first series that I ever consumed was Faizal’s and I felt incredibly proud that an author of this culture and religion was writing fantasy books that were valued all across the world. If I could interview her, the first question I would ask would be whether she found any challenges or advantages to being a Muslim writer, and if she did, what these were. Faizal is an extremely important role model to a large number of young Muslim writers like myself, so interviewing her would bring me great pleasure and hope that the future of books can be inclusive and diverse.
Lucy: My wishlist author is Samantha Shannon, writer of The Bone Season series and The Roots of Chaos cycle. From publishing her first book over ten years ago, and now with two successful series under her belt, Shannon is a master at writing vivid fantasy and dystopian worlds, crafting epic narratives and thinking up complex, mercurial characters. I have a distinct memory of attending an event at my university and listening to her being interviewed shortly after the release of one of the Bone Season books. Getting to hear firsthand about her writing process was one of the things that spurred me into the hot seat as an author interviewer at The Publishing Post. Now, I would love to be the one posing the questions.
Jess: At this current moment in time, it would be my absolute dream to interview Coco Mellors. I am currently obsessed with her and her work, an obsession which was only exacerbated by attending her book tour this year for Blue Sisters. She has such an interesting way with words, and I love the authenticity of her work. Like most authors, her path in life has been incredibly non-linear, and she is very open about her experiences with the likes of addiction and grief. From listening to her engage in other interviews, I see how much of her own life has seeped into her writing, and it has only left me with more questions for her. Interestingly, her debut novel Cleopatra and Frankenstein wasn’t hugely my cup of tea (though I still enjoyed it!), which would usually sway me away from an author, but I feel absolutely and undoubtedly captivated by her.
Iona: I would absolutely love to interview Anthony Doerr. Years ago, I read his novel All the Light We Cannot See, and it was one of the books that ignited my love of historical fiction. From All the Light We Cannot See to his recent novel Cloud Cuckoo Land, Doerr is an expert at creating beautifully vivid worlds – both historical and futuristic – with characters who jump off the page. Doerr’s love of storytelling is so visible in every sentence, and his novels contain some of the most breathtaking writing I’ve ever read. I would love to talk to him about his writing process, especially his approach to writing multiple perspectives while balancing multiple intersecting timelines. I’d also love to ask him about his thoughts on the recent Netflix adaptation of All the Light We Cannot See.
Who knows, we might end up interviewing some of these authors in the future… Watch this space!
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