The Women’s prize-shortlisted novelist on taking inspiration from John Steinbeck, Joan Didion and Jhumpa Lahiri, and weeping through Little Women in her 30s

The Women’s prize-shortlisted author on being obsessed with Judy Blume, hating Jane Austen at first, and the joys of Tove Jansson

The American author on the magic of Yasunari Kawabata, the hidden layers of Henry James and coming late to the genius of Muriel Spark

The author on feeling Thomas Hardy’s pain, being duped by Donna Tartt and how reading his sister’s copy of Trainspotting made him want to write

The South African author on discovering Colette, being inspired by JG Ballard, and the subversive joys of Asako Yuzuki

The author on being inspired by Michael Ondaatje and how Hilary Mantel helped her overcome her aversion to historical figure novels

The author on the Steinbeck novel that moved him to tears, how becoming a father inspired him to reread Marilynne Robinson, and the culinary comforts of James M Cain

The debut author on the brilliance of Charlotte Brontë, coming late to Harper Lee, and aspiring to write like Claire Keegan

The Booker-shortlisted author on a momentous teenage encounter with The Bone People, getting a buzz from Peter Høeg’s Miss Smilla, and trying to avoid The Lorax

The Send Nudes author on rereading Lorrie Moore, finding Dodie Smith at the right time, and the enduring brilliance of Muriel Spark

The British-American author on arguing about Jane Austen, the joys of Jerome K Jerome, and revising his opinion of Philip Roth

The Bulgarian Booker winner on the letter he wrote to JD Salinger, the allure of Homer’s Odyssey and the magic of Thomas Mann

The author on taking solace in Joan Didion, discovering Donna Tartt and being cheered up by David Sedaris

The Booker-shortlisted novelist on the seismic effect of Sigrid Nunez, and wanting to write like Virginia Woolf

The Scottish author on a masterclass from Toni Morrison, the brilliance of Simone de Beauvoir and the trim novel by Tove Jansson containing everything that really matters

The author on the trouble with the Brönte novels, what she gained from reading John Updike and Martin Amis – and the brilliance of Barbara Pym

The novelist on how Lawrence’s The Rainbow made him want to write, the strange genius of Penelope Fitzgerald and finding comfort in Tintin

The Safekeep author on her secret childhood reading, falling in love with Elizabeth Strout and why she keeps coming back to Zadie Smith

The author on getting hooked on Flann O’Brien, reassessing Kingsley Amis, and why his grandfather was outraged by Watership Down

The author on Anna Karenina, the brilliance of Anita Brookner and finally getting Nabokov