Jon McGregor, young novelist

Youth is a very fashionable thing in the arts and there are lots of new, young writers around, which is very valid. But think of people like Alice Munroe and Philip Roth. They have just got better with time, without changing their themes or style.

The key is practice: writing is a really hard thing to do and hard to do well. I hope my work will get better over time.

I don’t think age should come across in writing, and it doesn’t always. Younger writers tend to try lots of new ideas and styles. But people such as Peter Hobbs and Sarah Hall seem older than they are because of the pace and restraint of their writing.

Charlie Higson, middle-aged children’s author

You don’t need to be young to write for children; in fact it’s better to be slightly older. You can look at childhood from a distance and know what was important.

It’s about a middle ground. Very old authors tend to lose contact with reality over time. These grand old men of letters can’t speak to young people. But you do need experience to find matter for books. You can tell if it’s someone who hasn’t lived very much as their writing contains stuff they’re read elsewhere, or seen on the television. What do kids who go to university and then do a masters in creative writing have to say?

ny writer reading his or her earlier books wants to rewrite them. But at the time it was right. As I’ve got older I’ve learned more, but you can lose a directness.

Elaine Feinstein, senior poet

Young writers are very fresh, but the measured, mature voice of the older writer with several books behind them is what I turn to first. I like thoughtful writing and older writers write more slowly and using the vocabulary I am accustomed to.

The author’s generation is immediately obvious from their language. Older writers do sometimes try to mime the voice of younger writers by using colloquial language, which can make it harder to tell.

I’m fortunate as a writer. I’ve developed as a poet more in the last 15 years than the 15 preceding. Why? Because of pain and an attempt at sorting myself out.

Interviews by Sarah Birke

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