Joe Dunthorne: ‘Growing up in Swansea, I developed an allergy to Dylan Thomas’

The author on feeling Thomas Hardy’s pain, being duped by Donna Tartt and how reading his sister’s copy of Trainspotting made him want to write

All Them Dogs by Djamel White review

Sparks fly in this homoerotic dance of desire and betrayal, from a powerful new voice in Irish literature

The Writers Who Can’t Let Go of the South

Southern experiences and traditions can be deeply compelling, even exotic, to Americans who live in other areas.

My Lover, the Rabbi by Wayne Koestenbaum review

With echoes of Balzac and Proust, this tale of obsessive love evokes the dangers and delights of forbidden desire

The best recent poetry

Goyle, Chert, Mire by Jean Sprackland; The House of Broken Things by Kim Moore; The Tree Is Missing by Shannon Kuta Kelly; Dog Star by Michael Symmons Roberts; Horses by Jake Skeets

Sarah Hall: 'Everyone wangs on about Anna Karenina

The author on being inspired by Michael Ondaatje and how Hilary Mantel helped her overcome her aversion to historical figure novels