Tom Stoppard interview

In The Independent, Ciar Byrn talks to Guild member Sir Tom Stoppard following his receipt of a Dan David Prize, a $1m award from Tel Aviv University.

He finds it difficult – and unnecessary – to analyse his writing in great depth. He does not believe that his personal history and circumstances affect his work: "I write out of my intellectual experience." As a young man, he was much influenced by parody – treasuring a collection of Max Beerbohm parodies called A Christmas Garland, which he found on a barrow on Portobello Road.