Vox: Short audio from the RLF

'When the online customer support person told me – brightly – to ‘have a nice day' it took all the willpower I possessed not to scream expletives. 'When informed that this cloud hadn't magically saved all my lost books, I burst into tears and, when the online customer support person told me – brightly – to ‘have a nice day' it took all the willpower I possessed not to scream expletives in response.

'After commuting for twelve years, I told GWR I had written three books on their train, and that I should be made their writer in residence.'After commuting for twelve years, I went freelance. I told GWR I had written three books on their train, and that I should be made their writer in residence. To my surprise they agreed, giving me a staff pass that allowed free travel on their network.

'My bottom drawer is more of a recycling bin than a bottom drawer. My intention is for nothing to stay in it forever. 'My bottom drawer is more of a recycling bin than a bottom drawer. With the knowledge that no writing is ever wasted, my intention is for nothing to stay in it forever. Instead, it serves as a temporary storage space for stories I plan to revise.

'I score out phrases, draw connecting arrows between ideas, and play around with words on the page. A mouse and keyboard would slow me down.'I score out phrases, draw connecting arrows between ideas, and play around with the position of words on the page. Using a mouse and keyboard would slow me down. I rewrite obsessively. Every few lines I'll start redrafting what I've written so far.

'Writing is dreams caught in butterfly nets. It's falling in love for the first time. It's adventures my knees are too old to have. 'Writing is dreams caught in butterfly nets. It's falling in love for the first time. It's adventures my knees are too old to have. And mysteries my brain is too dull to solve. Writing is my escape. My means of coming back to myself. I write because I love it.

'Gather a few authors together in a room and does the conversation veer towards culture, philosophy, art…literature? No, it does not. It focuses on complaints.'Gather a few authors together in a room and does the conversation veer towards culture, philosophy, art…literature? No, it does not. It focuses on complaints — publicists, publishers, party invitations (lack of), editors and of course…earnings.

'Wandering around a music festival, a fella pointed a camera at me. ‘You wrote that book, didn't you?' he said. ‘I did!' I said, thrilled, ‘did you like it?' ‘I'm not sure,' he said.'Wandering around a music festival, a fella pointed a camera at me. ‘You wrote that book, didn't you?' he said. ‘I did!' I said, thrilled, ‘did you like it?' ‘I'm not sure,' he said and hid any fanboy excess behind a look that might be described as unnerving...

'Nature is everywhere. It's ugly and visceral and full of decay. It's in the rust on the bicycle and the weeds appearing uninvited between the cracks. 'I note that the café has an atmosphere of carefully crafted urban decay, mostly accidental. Nature is everywhere. It's ugly and visceral and full of decay. It's in the rust on the bicycle and the weeds appearing uninvited between the cracks.

'The advice that the editor gave, that readers want to know more about the kestrel flying above the rainbow and less about what it's like to change a tyre in the rain? They're not wrong.'The advice that the editor gave, that the readers want to know more about the kestrel flying above the rainbow that you see from the mountain pass in Wales and less about what it's like to change a tyre in the rain? They're not wrong.

'I began to internalise the rejections, to believe in a way I hadn't when I was younger, that the editors, agents, publishers were right — my work wasn't good enough.'I began to internalise the rejections, to believe in a way I hadn't when I was younger, that the editors, agents, publishers were right — my work wasn't good enough; of course they didn't want it. The rejections began to affect me. They began to fray me.

'I'm constantly drawing on a bank of inspiration from a wide pool, taking what I need and leaving behind what I don't. 'I think I can put my voice down to the many disciplines I've studied, read, and written, the genres and practices I've worked in. I'm constantly drawing on a bank of inspiration from a wide pool, taking what I need and leaving behind what I don't.

'I remember trying to look at ease. I remember thinking I should probably read something, just as in a bar you should probably drink something. 'I remember thinking I should probably read something, just as in a bar you should probably drink something. I wanted to be a scientist when I grew up, but that day I needed something stronger. I was so desperate I found myself in the poetry section.

'One part of me is sinking deeper into my roots, and the other is struggling to get away, to evoke a freer world in my writing. 'One part of me is sinking deeper into my roots, and the other is struggling to get away, to evoke a freer world in my writing. Writing about the Troubles and the landscape of home feels fraught with danger, but it is also a way of exerting myself.

'How will we ever code for experiences of wonder, grief, joy and awe? How will a humanoid artist ever yearn? 'How will we ever code for experiences of wonder, grief, joy and awe? How will a humanoid artist ever yearn? Such experiences will never be reducible to simulated feelings, even if simulations might be transmitted across our neural networks.

'There aren't many places where I can't write. A beach in full sun is no good, nor is a fast-moving car, but trains are fine, parks, waiting rooms, anywhere with a seat.'There aren't many places where I can't write. A beach in full sun is no good, nor is a fast-moving car, but trains are fine, parks in fair weather, waiting rooms, anywhere with a seat, in fact. People don't distract me, nor does any but the loudest noise.

'Only we know how deeply we felt those words, how hard we clung to the belief that they would one day find a shelf in a library or bookshop. And our characters! 'Only we know how deeply we felt those words, how hard we clung to the belief that they would one day find a shelf in a library or bookshop. And our characters! We cannot turn them out of the house. In any case, no word is ever wasted, we're told.

'If I've put in enough hours, if I've proved to the Muse that I am dedicated and loyal, there comes a time when she does arrive, unexpectedly and unannounced.'If I've put in enough hours, if I've proved to the Muse that I am dedicated and loyal, there comes a time when she does arrive, unexpectedly and unannounced, in all her golden glory. And when this happens I don't have time for inspirational quotes.

'How do you get your ideas?' If this seems a silly question to you: try not to say that. Think ahead and make up a reason. You're a creator! 'How do you get your ideas?' If this seems a silly question to you: try not to say that. Think ahead and make up a reason. You're a creator! Invent. And if your audience is bijou — shall we say — involve them.

'I come from a long line of home-grown storytellers. My mother would cook big pots of fragrant Indian food and stories would spring into the conversation.'I come from a long line of home-grown storytellers. At extended family gatherings my mother would cook big pots of fragrant Indian food and suddenly stories about our beloved farm close to the Himalaya would spring into the conversation.

'Why is rejection inevitable?' My game-changing Rejection is Actually an Essential Part of the Process theory. I'm aware that the name needs some work.'Why is rejection inevitable?' I eventually came up with my game-changing theory. It's called the Rejection is Actually an Essential Part of the Process theory. I'm aware that the name needs some work.

'I'd managed to publish three collections of poems alongside my academic career but had been too busy working and caring to build on my achievements.'The time I should have devoted to producing academic papers had been spent writing poetry. I managed to publish three collections alongside my academic career but had been too busy working and caring to build on my writing achievements.

'It simply never occurred to me that I could or ever would become a writer. My working-class roots put it well beyond any horizon of mine.'I came to writing late in life, having never for a moment thought I would become a published novelist. It simply never occurred to me that I could or ever would become a writer. My working-class roots put it well beyond any horizon of mine.

'It was impossible for me to go into a stately home (a treat for a seven year old) and not enquire whether there had been any blood shed, or bones found.'It was impossible for me to go into a stately home (a treat for a seven year old) and not enquire whether there had been any blood shed, or bones found in the priest hole. Becoming a crime journalist and then a crime novelist was always on the cards.

'As pilgrims we were captivated by the landscape as it changed around us, concerned with basic facts of where we would eat and sleep. I had no desire for a fictional world.'As pilgrims we were captivated by the landscape as it changed around us, concerned with basic facts of where we would eat and sleep, and charged with the encounters and conversations that shaped each day. I had no desire for a fictional world.

'There was no one in the once-a-monastery-now-a-restaurant but us. A young couple came in with their baby, only to leave after a hushed conversation with the waiters.'There was no one in the once-a-monastery-now-a-restaurant but us — maybe the festival had booked the whole restaurant, which didn't strike me as out of keeping with the general oddness of this globetrotting cohort of writers and translators.

'Words are a re-ordering of dream, an attempt to drag down the superconscious into the good old conscious, where theatres are and publishing happens.'Words are a re-ordering of dream, an attempt to drag down the superconscious into the good old conscious, where theatres are and publishing happens. But too much world-order and the dream-power is lost. I have to stop, dip back down into sleep.

'A comic squib about domestic angst, which began ‘There's a nasty niff in the downstairs loo', developed its own agenda...'A comic squib about domestic angst developed its own agenda and finally clinched itself in a line, ‘For they are in the world, and you are not'. The tribute to my late partner which I had struggled for two years to write. It had written itself. Or had it?

'I do believe that, alongside metaphors, allegories and similes, a writer's life itself is but another literary device to be incorporated into their work.'I do believe that, alongside metaphors, allegories and similes, a writer's life itself is but another literary device to be incorporated into their work, particularly when their own lives start feeling like a cluster of meaningless oxymorons. Difficult? Enormously so.

'Of the origin stories I read the one I liked best was about Jimi Hendrix releasing a pair of parakeets in Carnaby Street.'The origin story I liked best was about Jimi Hendrix releasing a pair of parakeets in Carnaby Street. Hendrix spent several months in the city before his death at the age of twenty seven. ‘There's no place like London', he said. ‘It's like a kind of a fairyland.'

'I was asked to co-translate a doorstep on Joseph Beuys, then a monograph on choreographer Pina Bausch and her innovative dance theatre. Yet still winging it.'When I was asked to co-translate a doorstep on Joseph Beuys, then a monograph on choreographer Pina Bausch and her innovative dance theatre, I realised I was dealing with the great and good of the German postwar avant garde. Yet still winging it.

'The green room can be daunting when you're starting on your literary career but I've usually found it a source of conversation and news. 'The green room can be daunting when you're starting on your literary career but I've found it a source of conversation and news. After a solitary winter of writing, there's nothing better than meeting others to discuss the vicissitudes of being a published author.

'People don't realise how little money there is, is because — until they are published and they find out — writers don't often put a number on it. 'One of the reasons that people don't realise how little money there is, is because — until they are published and they find out — writers don't often put a number on it. It's embarrassing, how little you got paid for the thing that you worked so hard on.

'Julia Cameron states that writer's block needs to be radically reconfigured as a sign that the writer has too many ideas, not too few. 'Julia Cameron states that writer's block needs to be radically reconfigured as a sign that the writer has too many ideas, not too few. When I read that for the first time, it wasn't so much a lightbulb moment as a full-scale Son et lumière in my head.

'A photograph is often very revealing. I've written an entire novel based on a photograph album owned by the adjutant and commander of Auschwitz.'A photograph is often very revealing. I've written an entire novel based on a photograph album owned by the Adjutant and Commander of Auschwitz, and the more I looked at the images he chose to preserve in the album, the more I saw.

'Life is a constant rearrangement of priorities, and sometimes we need to remember that writing — though a compulsion we love — is just one of them. 'Life is a constant rearrangement of priorities, and sometimes we need to remember that writing — though a compulsion we love, a lifelong illness we that can't quite shake — is just one of them. More than simply surviving, we should try to live well.

'There's something wonderful about writing when there's snow. It deadens sound and blankets everything with clean lines.'There's something wonderful about writing when there's snow. It deadens sound and blankets everything with clean lines. It clears out the mind and makes the world a hushed, waiting space to fill with words.

'Writers must cast aside whichever exciting project they are now working on to go back in time, just as the reader is taking the book forward into their lives. 'Writers must cast aside whichever exciting project they are now working on to go back in time, just as the reader is taking the book forward into their lives. Pity the poor writer who struggles to remember why they wrote the book in the first place.

'Knowing your own best work rhythms will save you both from making excuses, and from expecting too much of yourself at the wrong moment. 'Knowing your own best work rhythms will save you both from making excuses, and from expecting too much of yourself at the wrong moment. You will learn to identify quite distinct phases; when you are on song as opposed to merely competent.

'What genre would Shakespeare be? His works contain horror, history, myth, fantasy, ghosts, crime. Dickens, too.'What genre would Shakespeare be? His works contain horror, history, myth, fantasy, ghosts, crime. Dickens, too. I always have a Dickens on the go, and dip in just as I would a giant bag of pick and mix. I want a novel to have it all; why not?

'I stopped to smoke a cigarette, talking aloud to myself in a near-fury that I had a commission waiting for me and no pitch to make.'I stopped to smoke a cigarette, talking aloud to myself in a near-fury that I had a commission waiting for me and no pitch to make, nothing to inspire the officer that she had done the right thing awarding money to a man who'd never written a play.

'I learned very early on as a self-employed freelancer that the answer to ‘Can you do this paid work?' is always ‘Yes'. That has stood me in good stead.'Writing often has to come second place to the work that has more immediate returns. I learned very early on as a self-employed freelancer that the answer to ‘Can you do this paid work?' is always ‘Yes'. That ethos has stood me in good stead.

'There was actual advice but the real, unspoken advice was that they were all there. All doing it. Managing with or without a day job.'There was actual advice but the real, unspoken advice was that they were all there. All doing it. It struck me when I came down for breakfast the following morning that there was nothing to stop me from joining them at their metaphorical table.

'The writers that grab me these days are those who pull and push not only at the limits of language but at those of form. 'The writers that grab me these days are those who pull and push not only at the limits of language but at those of form. Lydia Davis takes the already chameleon short story and whittles it down to single paragraphs, stacking sentences into collages.

'On that rainy afternoon in O'Connell Building, surrounded by my classmates, my love of drama ignited: recreating Joan of Arc's last night on Earth. 'On that rainy afternoon in O'Connell Building, surrounded by my classmates, my love of drama ignited. You tasked us with devising a dramatic scene: recreating Joan of Arc's last night on Earth. Maybe some of her rubbed off on me that afternoon.

'I watched my new desk as its surface got covered with more and more piles of paper and books, and found myself using it almost… never. 'I watched my new desk from my bed as its surface got covered with more and more piles of paper and books, and of course, I found myself using it almost… never. Eventually, I ditched the fantasy that the desk would make me more professional.

' Can I even dare to hope that somewhere out there are readers with all my volumes, from the very first in 1988 to the most recent?'Can I even dare to hope that somewhere out there are readers with all my volumes, from the very first in 1988 to the most recent, five years ago, on their bookshelves? That having got something out of the one you read first, you were drawn by the next?

'The Scillies are the place my imagination retreats to when I'm grappling with a plot, or a new set of characters. I return there every year.'The Scillies are the place my imagination retreats to when I'm grappling with a plot, or a new set of characters. The uncluttered beauty of the landscape triggers my creativity, which could explain why I return there every year.

'We didn't know that the ‘Firaq' in Ghulam Nabi Firaq was a takhalus, a pen name that poets in the subcontinent adopt early in their poetic lives. 'For years, we didn't even know that the ‘Firaq' in Ghulam Nabi Firaq was a takhalus, a pen name that poets in the subcontinent adopt early in their poetic lives. He was simply Firaq Sir. A serious-looking, large man who was always immaculately dressed.

'I mentally wander. I encourage that same delicious distractibility which makes me such a poor listener at lectures.'We dream up situations and conundra and resolutions for people who have never quite existed. To try to achieve that ‘flow' state of deep concentration, I encourage that same delicious distractibility which makes me such a poor listener at lectures.

'Hugo William's advice is that voice when I need it. My job isn't to get better as a writer. My job is only to do what I can.'Hugo William's advice is that voice when I need it, as I often do. My job isn't to get better as a writer, or to worry about how people will respond, or if they will respond at all. My job is only to do what I can: to show up every day, and start scribbling.

'Publication is wonderful — both euphoric and humbling. But in the days and weeks that follow a book's release, I feel a strange sadness. 'Publication is wonderful — both euphoric and humbling, and I've been dazed by it each time. But in the days and weeks that follow a book's release, I feel a strange sadness. As if something had physically left me, that I looked for but couldn't find.