Anthony Horowitz, one of the most prolific and successful writers in the UK, is speaking urgently and passionately. “You can take the ‘N’ word out of James Bond or the ‘fat’ word out of Roald Dahl, but that is only the beginning. They will ask for a word, then it will be a paragraph, then it will be a page, then it will be the whole book, then it will be the whole author — and that is already happening.”
Horowitz has had a 40-year career and is one of Britain’s best-selling novelists. He has written more than 50 books, including the latest James Bond and Sherlock Holmes novels, as well as TV series, films and plays and is the creator of both Foyle’s War and Midsomer Murders. But even he fears the chill of cancel culture. “Even speaking to you in this interview,” he tells me.
