Q&A with Natasha Walter

Today sees Miranda Richardson 2013 Chair of Judges take to the airwaves on BBC Woman’s Hour to discuss the 2013 winner of the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction May We Be Forgiven by A. M. Homes. Be sure to tune in to BBC Radio 4 or listen online from 10am this morning.

Before today’s interview, we caught up with feminist writer Natasha Walter, a member of our 2013 judging panel, to discuss Virginia Woolf and the advancement of women’s literature.

Do you think fiction written by women has changed over the past decade? If so, how?

I think we can see more women writers growing in confidence, taking on varied themes and working full out to give voice to the myriad experiences of the contemporary world.

What progress would you like to see for women in the next twenty years?

If more women from across the world had access to education, literacy and a decent life free from violence we would see even more women able to voice their experiences in literature.

Is there a book written by a woman that has changed your life?

I think I have been shaped by books, by both men and women. Politicallly I was very influenced by Virginia Woolf’s Three Guineas, which I still think is a marvellous and very underrated polemic.

Don’t forget to tune into Miranda Richardson’s interview on BBC Woman’s Hour this morning to hear her championing the 2013 Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction winner May We Be Forgiven.