Paul Morgan

** Where were you born?

In London, though I have lived in Australia for the past twenty years.

** You were educated in London?

Yes, and later at the University of Wales where I studied Philosophy and English.

I did a Master's on Nabokov and later a doctoral thesis on the novel and reception theory.

** Where do you live now?

After working in various places in the UK and Australia, I settled in Melbourne where I now live with my partner, Caroline.

** Have you always written?

For as long as I can remember. Since I was very young, I've been fascinated by language, by how each word exists in multiple, shimmering dimensions. It has a semantic meaning. It has a sound. It has a shape and a weight on the page. The meaning and 'feel' of a word change too depending on the context, on who is reading it, and when. Really, you could spend a whole day thinking profitably about one word. Language is the nearest thing we have to magic. It can transform the way we see the world, especially in a novel of course.

** How do you write?

I generally work towards a first draft in longhand and type this up on my MacBook when I have a chapter. Then the hard work starts: rewriting repeatedly - building up and cutting back - until I think it works.

** The books on your bedside table?

James Salter Dusk and Other Stories

David Malouf Every Move You Make

Zadie Smith Marth and Hanwell

Patrick White The Twyborn Affair

Vladimir Nabokov Lectures on Literature

Gail Jones Sixty Lights

Janine Burke The Gods of Freud

Hanif Kureishi Midnight All Day

** The music you're listening to?

Finn Brothers Everyone is Here

The Necks Hanging Gardens

Massive Attack Blue Lines

Gustav Mahler Kindertotenlieder

Nick Cave The Lyre of Orpheus

Richard Wagner Tristan und Isolde

Erykah Badu Worldwide

Jill Scott Beautifully Human

Radiohead Hail to the Thief

John Tavener The Protecting Veil