Colm Toibin is one of Ireland's finest writers, whose books explore issues such as Catholicism, immigration and homosexuality.

His 2009 novel Brooklyn won the Costa novel of the Year. This month he has published Nora Webster - a novel set in Ireland in the late 1960s which features a cameo appearance from one of his characters in Brooklyn.

In 2012 he published a re-imagining of the life of the Virgin Mary - The Testament of Mary which was turned into a stage play and performed by Fiona Shaw to rave reviews in both London and New York.

As booking opens this week for the 2014 Free Thinking Festival at Sage Gateshead - tonight's Free Thinking gives you a chance to hear the conversation he recorded with Philip Dodd at the 2012 Festival.

Producer: Philippa Ritchie

First broadcast in December 2012. Show less