Ali Smith and Alan Taylor on Muriel Spark

Journalist Alan Taylor first met Muriel Spark when he interviewed her at her Tuscan home in 1990. It marked the beginning of a long and close friendship. In Appointment in Arezzo (Polygon) Taylor gives a warm and humorous account of that friendship, as well as reflecting on Spark's early life and on her complicated relationships with her Jewish roots, her native Scotland and with her son Robin. He was in conversation about his book, and about the life and work of Muriel Spark, with fellow enthusiast the novelist Ali Smith.