The Book Café - 05/07/2010

Often voted one of the ten most important books of the past century, we'll be marking the 50th anniversary of the publication of Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird by finding out what the book has meant to readers through the generations. What would make an award-winning journalist leave the security of her day job and put herself in the vulnerable position of first-time novelist? Catherine Deveney explains. Former Children's Laureate Michael Morpurgo talks about how technology is changing the way authors interact with their young readers - and he should know: rather than the usual 30 pupils in a classroom he recently faced 40,000 at the same time via the internet. And author Justin Cronin explains how the 766-page story that he plotted out with his small daughter for fun came to be fought over by film companies and publishers before it was even half written.