The 2009 Booker Prize winner and some shortlisted authors joined us on Talking Books to chat about their work and life. Some of the interviews were too long to be played in full on-air, but there are no time restrictions online, so click on the links below for the full story.

This year's winner, Hilary Mantel has been praised by critics for writing 'a rich, absorbingly readable historical novel; she has made a significant shift in the way any of her readers interested in English history will henceforward think about Thomas Cromwell.' She talks about our fascination with the Tudors, the 'soap opera' that is Henry the VIII's reign and how Jane Seymore wasn't as much as a dumb blonde as we think she was.

Hilary Mantel - Wolf Hall Interview

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Sarah Waters chats about 'The Little Stranger', a chilling ghost story from the author of books such as 'Tipping the Velvet' and 'Fingersmith' and tells us how strange it was hearing a male narrator reading her work.

Sarah Waters - The Little Stranger Interview

Simon Mawer discusses his novel, The Glass Room, and tells us about the real building on which the novel is based, geographically fixed but undergoing a number of political shifts around its glass walls.

Simon Mawer - The Glass Room Interview

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Adam Foulds talks about 'The Quickening Maze', set in an asylum in 1840, where poet John Clare spent time with a young Alfred Tennyson, plus Adam talks about his rise into the literary spotlight. (Adam is pictured winning the Costa Book Award for The Broken Word, also available as an RNIB Takling Book)

Adam Foulds - The Quickening Maze Interview

The complete Man Booker Prize shortlist was available to blind and partially sighted readers. RNIB produced the books in braille, giant print and Talking Book formats. This year the Man Booker Prize included a clause requiring publishers to provide an electronic file of each long-listed title to the RNIB, so that production of the shortlisted books was possible as soon as the announcement was made. Man Group plc Charitable Trust has paid for the production of the Talking Book versions in previous years and the Booker Prize Foundation has paid for the braille and giant print versions.

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