To each his own

The British Council's Lit Sutra initiative saw crime novelist Mark Billingham and fantasy fiction writer China Mieville work up a delightful, laughter-filled conversation.

A crime writer who's also a stand-up comic; a fantasy fiction writer who's also a left-wing political activist. Put them together in a room and what do you get.

A rapid-fire, roller-coaster conversation on everything from avant-garde fiction to rakshasas and assorted monsters, the induction ceremony to Agatha Christie's Detection Club to falling anvils in Tom & Jerry cartoons.Best-selling crime novelist Mark Billingham and fantasy fiction writer China (his parents were hippies and named him after a popular Cockney slang term!) Mieville from the U.K. were recently in Chennai as part of British Council's Lit Sutra initiative.

Lively, opinionated and articulate, the two quite literally talked up a storm, first during an interview at the British Council and then again at the public event at Landmark.

Full report here Hindu