What Makes a Writer

To mark the Book Festival’s 40th year, we have invited five leading writers to join us in a series that explores that most creative and consuming of vocations: the writing life. In this series, Jackie Kay, Val McDermid, Elif Shafak, Bernardine Evaristo, and Ali Smith cast their minds back over their careers and reflect on some of the key moments and influences that have defined them as writers. What compels them to keep going despite the inherent difficulties of the task?