John Boyne: “Life is short; I feel no compunction to finish a novel that is boring me. I’ll read something else.” Photograph: Dave Meehan
Belfastmen - An Intimate History of Life Before Gay Liberation: Defiance, tenderness and interrupted clandestine encounters
Sue Divin: ‘Character, voice, plot, pace, authenticity – if a writer nails that, I’ll read their novel’
Foreign correspondent Sally Hayden: I wrote a book about love to remember there is goodness in the world