The Irish author on the allure of Lolita, the comfort of Yeats and the power of Winnie-the-Pooh

The American author on finding sympathy for Ted Hughes, a Palestinian take on Hamlet, and the joy of cookery books

The writer on how a creepy, psychological thriller blew her 13-year old mind, her early outrage at unreliable narrators and taking comfort in Saki

The American author on how Infinite Jest made him face up to his substance abuse, and the joy of Judy Blume

The Unfortunate Events author on getting nightmares from Dr Seuss, Raymond Chandler’s brawny wit and the ghost story he read to tatters

The Scottish author on having his mind changed by Orwell, how Trainspotting was influenced by Ulysses, and his wariness of novels created with AI

The MP and author on reading her political rival’s memoir, the wonders of Robert Macfarlane and the joy of Barbara Kingsolver

The Room author on adoring Alan Garner, inspirational Sylvia Plath and the wisdom of Terry Pratchett

The Irish author on being inspired to write by Lorrie Moore, and failing to get Madame Bovary the first time around

The British novelist on rereading the classics, his teenage love of outsiders, and discovering the brilliance of Anita Brookner

The Lullaby author on identifying with Jo in Little Women, being terrified of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and why we’re still in debt to Steinbeck

The crime writer on embracing atheism after reading Christopher Hitchens, the allure of Jhumpa Lahiri, and falling under George Orwell’s spell

The British-Ghanaian author on having his mind blown by Malorie Blackman as a child, the allure of John Williams’s Stoner and why Zadie Smith made him want to write

The American author on being paid to read in his teens, the allure of graphic novels and the brilliance of Iris Murdoch

The Irish author on the allure of Elizabeth Jane Howard, the brilliance of Bernardine Evaristo – and why she won’t be revisiting Philip Roth

The punk poet on finally getting JD Salinger, why he rereads the Bible, and growing up with Rupert Bear and Batman

The poet on being inspired by rappers, learning from Ursula K Le Guin, and the life-saving Leslie Feinberg

The Daisy Jones and The Six author on how reading Nick Hornby opened up a new world for her as a teenager and why Octavia Butler made her change her mind about sci-fi

The poet on discovering Seamus Heaney, revisiting Alice Walker and the joy of Allan Ahlberg

The American author on the greatness of Tolstoy, the joy of Jamaica Kincaid and her insatiable appetite for fairytales