The novelists discuss using real life in fiction, email style, and the art of writing sex scenes
Sally and I began this conversation when I was in London, having flown there to attend the Dylan Thomas prize ceremony. My husband, Jason, had experienced a medical emergency on the plane from Los Angeles and had been rushed to Charing Cross hospital as soon as we touched down, so my emails were written under the influence of steroids, cold medicine, and pure adrenaline; Sally’s were written under the influence of a little cup of water. Realising, perhaps, that I hadn’t looked forward to writing an email for a very long time, I begin by asking her a simple question: when did email die?
Sally Rooney: Email is dead?? I’m reeling. Why do people keep emailing me then??