One Minute With: Anne Enright, novelist

Where are you now and what can you see?

I'm in the front room in my house [in County Wicklow, Ireland] and I can see my very wet, overgrown garden.

What are you currently reading?

'At Last' by Edward St Aubyn. I've just read 'Mother's Milk' [the previous book in the series] which I loved.

Choose a favourite author, and say why you admire her/him

Alice Munro. It's difficult to sum up why in one sentence. She's the kind of writer who lasts for a lifetime. I've been reading her for 30 years and she is as relevant, or more relevant, as she was when I started out.

Describe the room where you usually write

I don't write two books in the same place. I seem to have settled on a chair that I write. I'm very happy with it.

Which fictional character most resembles you?

Max from [Maurice Sendak's] 'Where the Wild Things Are'. I think he resembles most writers. He's in his room, on his own, being "king of all wild things".

Who is your hero/heroine from outside literature?

George Mitchell, the US Democratic senator who arbitrated the Northern Ireland peace agreement. He's the quiet type but with endless patience and diplomacy. And he listened to a lot of bullshit.

Anne Enright's Orange Prize-shortlisted novel, 'The Forgotten Waltz', is published in paperback by Vintage