I feel able to steal from Emily Dickinson because she's both wonderful and dead. Mal Peet deaddickinsonemily Change image and share on social
'Keeper' is about fathers, ultimately. and also conservation, commitment and ambition. Mal Peet ambitioncommitmentconservation Change image and share on social
It's a nonsense because, as we all know, there are brilliant 15-year-old readers and hopeless 50-year-old readers. All that categorisation is a matter of bookshop shelves rather than literary categories, I think. Mal Peet bookshopbrilliantcategorisation share on social
What I value in books is lucidity. I want the language to be rich; I love lexical fireworks on the page, but I have to know what it means. I want to be surprised and delighted, not merely baffled. Mal Peet bafflebookdelight Change image and share on social
The surprising thing is that so many teenage cancer novels are very good. John Green's 'The Fault in Our Stars,' recently published by Penguin, was voted 'Time Magazine''s book of the year in 2012 ahead of Hilary Mantel and Zadie Smith. Mal Peet aheadbookcancer share on social
Benches and books have things in common beyond the fact that they're generally to do with sitting. Both are forms of public privacy, intimate spaces widely shared. Mal Peet benchbookcommon Change image and share on social
I was a bit odd. I read books and wanted to draw and go to art school. Mal Peet artbitebook Change image and share on social
I'm not a great reader of historical fiction; it's not my favourite genre. Mal Peet favouritefictiongenre Change image and share on social
Teen authors love to flirt with taboo, to grapple - sensitively - with dark and frightening issues, and there is nothing darker and more frightening than cancer. Mal Peet authorcancerdark Change image and share on social
I see genres as generating sets of rules or conventions that are only interesting when they are subverted or used to disguise the author's intent. My own way of doing this is to attempt a sort of whimsical alchemy, whereby seemingly incompatible genres are brought into unlikely partnerships. Mal Peet alchemyattemptauthor share on social