Nafissa Thompson-Spires’ first book, the short story collection The Heads of Colored People, is short-listed for the Gordon Burn Prize (a prize for a book that follows Burn’s “bold footsteps” and “enters history and dares to interrogate the past”). But why write about painful topics? The author: “I think the goal of a writer should be to tell the truth in some way, even if it’s to tell it slant – or to imagine a better version of the truth. We have to find ways to confront difficult subjects.” – The Guardian (UK)