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The musician Julian Cope found he had a story to tell that had to take the form of a novel. The result is 131 (Faber). Julian explains the important of rhythm and image to his work, how his writing is informed by Punk, and why his research methods insist that he has to ‘become my own library’.

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Maggie Gee’s new novel ‘Virginia Woolf in Manhattan’ (Telegram Books) brings the author back to life in the present day. Maggie wanted to have fun with Woolf, so her novel plays with form. Maggie explains that she wanted to attempt to rescue Woolf from our image of her, which never escapes her illness and eventual suicide.

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Ruth Keggin grew up on the Isle of Man, but only began to really treasure the culture and language when she left for university. Sheear is her debut album of traditional and contemporary songs in Manx Gaelic. She explains how Manx Gaelic is not a dead language, but in fact still evolving.

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The latest in our series of WWI dramas is Iain Findlay Macleod’s’ ‘The High Wood’, the story of two brothers from a rural highland community headed for the front. Iain has written for theatre, television and radio. He is also a weaver, and he tells Ian how this discipline informs his writing.

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