Barack Obama talks faith and politics with Pulitzer-winning writer Marilynne Robinson

Mr Obama spoke to Marilynne Robinson in Iowa last month

Mr Obama spoke to Marilynne Robinson in Iowa last month (AP)

For once, President Barack Obama was asking the questions.

In a discussion held last month in Iowa and posted online on Monday by The New York Review of Books, Obama asked Pulitzer Prize-winning author Marilynne Robinson about faith, democracy, education and writing.

Mr Obama is a longtime admirer of Robinson and her novel Gilead, an Iowa-based narrative that the president said he had read while visiting the state as a candidate.

He explained that he met with Robinson because he was anxious to have a conversation with someone he liked and admired.

“As you know - I’ve told you this - I love your books. Some listeners may not have read your work before, which is good, because hopefully they’ll go out and buy your books after this conversation,” Mr Obama told the 71-year-old.

“I first picked up Gilead, one of your most wonderful books, here in Iowa. Because I was campaigning at the time, and there’s a lot of downtime when you’re driving between towns and when you get home late from campaigning.

“And you and I, therefore, have an Iowa connection, because Gilead is actually set here in Iowa.”

Robinson told the president she had grown up in a small town and fell into being a writer.

“I followed what was for me the path of least resistance, which meant reading a lot of books and writing, because it came naturally to me,” she said.