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	HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK

JOHN BURNINGHAM IN CONVERSATION WITH DAVID ROBERTS Legendary illustrator John Burningham sat down with David Roberts, illustrator of titles including Kate Greenaway-shortlisted Little Red and John superfan, for a chat about John's life and work. DR: One of the things I like about your style of illustration is that it seems to have a fearlessness to it, it seems so spontaneous and free. Have you found that you always worked that way or is this something that’s come out as a signature? Do you look back at earlier work and think it’s much tighter whereas now it feels much more free?  JB: To obtain that sort of free illustration look is an awful lot of work and pre-thought. I dislike the whole process, I mean, I quite like having achieved something but there’s building up to doing a drawing is no easier for me now than it was 50 years ago and I don’t really feel I have any ability until I manage to produce something that works. READ MORE >

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10 QUESTIONS: TOM MORAN Tom Moran won the inaugural Guardian award for self-published book of the month for his comic fantasy novel, Dinosaurs and Prime Numbers. MORE >

THE ANATOMY OF A CRIME NOVEL Author John Burley explores how to put together a crime novel, while editor at Avon, Lydia Vassar-Smith, explains the cliches to avoid. MORE >

	BOOK OF THE WEEK

THE INCARNATIONS by Susan Barker Someone is watching Wang Jun, leaving letters in his taxi, claiming to be his soulmate. This person insists that they and Wang have known each other for a thousand years, and has stories to tell of their various incarnations throughout Chinese history. In these stories, Wang and his correspondent variously love and hate each other, live together or die at the other’s hand.  True to its title, the idea of "incarnations" runs all the way through this novel. It’s not just the various historical incarnations of Wang and his "soulmate" – there’s also the sense that a place can go through different incarnations (Wang has seen the city of Beijing change as the 2008 Olympics approach), and that the stages of a person’s life can function in the same way. Barker’s novel balances past and present, the grand sweep of history and the intensely personal, all wrapped up in brisk and densely evocative prose. MORE >