Helena de Bertodano, a journalist specialising in interviews and profiles of celebrities for publications such as The Times, The Telegraph and The Observer. She has interviewed more than 1,000 people over the last 25 years, including many key figures in contemporary literature, such as Umberto Eco, Kurt Vonnegut, Isabel Allende, Doris Lessing, Don DeLillo, Joan Didion, JK Rowling, Paul Auster and Mario Vargas Llosa.