Sunjeev Sahota talks to Mariella about his new novel The Year of the Runaways which tells the story of three Indian men who come to England and try to survive in a world of ill paid work and cruel employers. Sunjeev discusses how he researched this powerful account of desperate lives, and why he often snatches the chance of happiness from his characters.

Literary critic Rachel Cooke bemoans the current rise of auto-fiction - or autobiographical novels - and she's joined by Mark Richards to discuss the impact of this on contemporary literature and whether it's the fault of just one man: Norwegian writer Karl Ove Knausgaard.

Australian novelist Kate Grenville talks about the influence of her mother on her writing which is reflected in her choice of Book She'd Never Lend and we hear from Janice Galloway who was also inspired by motherhood when she wrote her new collection of short stories. Show less