While it’s widely accepted that kids and writing don’t mix, Andrea Mara and other juggling authors discover their offspring can offer inspiration.

I think I would be a good mother. I just don’t want to be one. Maybe I’ll change my mind. (You don’t know. People change. You might change your mind.)

Maggie O’Farrell tells Sue Leonard that children have made her writing tougher and better. “Having children gives you a great emotional connection”

FOR those fortunate to read him, Robert (Bobby) O’Donoghue, who died recently, was a guide to what literature and the arts could offer.