Paris or Proust with Adam Foulds

Paris or Proust with Adam Foulds

Who or what in history would like to know more about?

Shakespeare's diet and sleeping habits. What he looked like when he walked, ran or threw a ball.

Which author/artist/musician inspire you but that few people know about?

The British composer Oliver Knussen. The poems of James Schuyler. Christopher Logue's version of Homer's Iliad. The novels of Danilo Kis.

What image have you seen recently that has affected you?

Larry Burrows' photo “Reaching Out, Battle for Hill 484, DMZ, 1966,” an extraordinary image from the Vietnam War that is on the cover of Jonathan Shay's book, Achilles In Vietnam: Combat Trauma And The Undoing Of Character. The book talks very movingly about the profound bond of love that develops between combat soldiers and quotes one veteran interpreting the man holding the soldier back as saying: “No, you can't follow him into death.”

What language don’t you speak and wish you did, and why?

Russian. For Chekhov, Tolstoy, Gogol and all the others. And for its beautiful sound.

Coffee or tea?

Green tea or espresso.

Describe your sense of humor?

Varied. How about things I find funny? Marx Brothers. The Big Lebowski. Evelyn Waugh. Laurel And Hardy.

Best piece of advice you were ever given, and who gave it to you?

'You must be the change you want to see in the world.' Mahatma Gandhi. It wasn't given to me personally.

What question have you wanted to ask but never dared?

I can't think of an answer to this one. Perhaps I've always asked when I wanted to know something.

Paris or Proust?

Does it have to be choice? In my life I suppose I've made it to some extent: I know Proust better than I know Paris. I've read In Search Of Lost Time three times. Once isn't enough.

Adam Foulds has produced three books in the last five years. The novel, The Truth about These Strange Times (2007) won the Betty Trask award and made him the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year. Broken Words (2008), a narrative poem, was short-listed for the John Llewellyn Rhys Award and won the Costa Prize in poetry. In 2009, his novel, The Quickening Maze, was short-listed for the Booker Prize.