SARAH SCHOFIELD’S subtle and compelling fiction comes in a range of styles. Her first collection, Safely Gathered In, includes traditional, emotionally powerful tales (Under the Foil; Shake Me and I Rattle), and work that is detached, satirical and formally experimental (Nostalgia4Beginners; Safely Gathered In). I ask what aspects of a story influence her approach: does theme determine form, or does she simply crave variety?

“The writer David Constantine said, ‘I reinvent the genre every time […] I can’t see how the way I went about it last time will help me this time.’ I wholeheartedly agree with this.

“Often, I query whether I will be able to write another story. Perhaps it’s all just been a bit of a fluke. More recently, with very young children in the picture, approaching the form differently has been the shake-up I needed – I wrote the early drafts of the title story quickly in half-hour stints in a local café, whenever my mum had a bit of time to spare on her day off or the baby was sleeping. Typing whilst breastfeeding also works and buys you a bit more time, except typing one-handed means you have to add certain punctuation in afterwards (question marks are tricky).