One minute with: Adriana Lisboa, novelist

Lisboa says: 'I once did a quiz and it said I was like Shakespeare's Ophelia. But I think I would rather be Piglet, from Winnie the Pooh' (Julie Harris)

Where are you now and what can you see?

At my dining room table in my house in Boulder, Colorado. I can see my apple tree.

What are you currently reading?

Denis Johnson's 'Train Dreams', a superb novella set in the American West in the beginning of the 20th century.

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

Brazilian modernist writer João Guimarães Rosa. His fiction is unique. His language mixes neologisms and Latinisms, combining metaphysics and mythology in the backlands of Brazil.

Describe the room where you usually write

I work at a mirrored desk bought at a thrift store, my chair is a pilates ball.

Which fictional character most resembles you?

I once did a quiz and it said Shakespeare's Ophelia. But I think I would rather be Piglet, from 'Winnie the Pooh' who always tries to be brave even though he's small.

Who is your hero/heroine from outside literature?

I have many - for instance the hundreds of Buddhist monks, nuns and their supporters who are protesting China's policies in Tibet.

Adriana Lisboa's 'Crow Blue' (Bloomsbury) will be launched at Flipside, a festival of Brazilian literature and arts at Snape Maltings, Suffolk, 4-6 October