Why do we still laugh when times are hard? Wi...

What’s the difference between flash fiction and the short story? Why are we drawn to literature’s most flawed characters? And what would be the ideal fictional world for adulterers? Hosted by Rhianna Dhillon, on this episode of Ask Penguin, we’re answering your questions with our ...  Show more

How did Marian Keyes inspire Bryony Gordon’s writing? How do you write about family without falling into stereotypes? Which books capture the messy reality of life? And what is your favourite habit to fit reading into your life? The Ask Penguin team returns with a shelf-load of m ...  Show more

Zadie Smith is a British novelist, essayist, and short story writer. She is the author of six novels and her first book White Teeth was completed during her final year at Cambridge University. Published in 2000, White Teeth became an instant international bestseller - winning num ...  Show more

Last fall, Zadie Smith published her prescient historical novel The Fraud. We return to our conversation with the beloved author this week, on the heels of our latest sit-down with writer Taffy Brodesser-Akner. At the top, Smith details her most recent book (7:48), her instinctiv ...  Show more

The British writer Kate Atkinson has had a rich and varied career since her debut novel, “Behind the Scenes at the Museum,” won the Whitbread Book of the Year award in 1996; her 14 subsequent books have included story collections, historical fiction and an inventive speculativ ...

Did you know that Mary Shelley was a teenager when she started writing Frankenstein in 1814? Or that England’s most prolific goal scorer - man or woman - was superstar striker Lily Parr, who scored a staggering 997 goals between 1919 and 1951? When Kate Mosse launched the #WomenI ...  Show more