These days writers are expected to directly engage with their readers and discuss their work on the literary circuit, entertaining audiences and answering questions. However, the inner workings of a writer's mind still remains a mystery and it is refreshing to find two writers in New Writing 15 who have exposed themselves in essays on the nature of their creativity, discussing the highs and lows, the ups and downs and the ins and outs of what it takes to be a writer. Ma Jian lives in London, in self-imposed exile, struggling to find his inspiration outside of his native China. Ursula Holden is 86-years-old and looks back, with occasional shocking honesty, at a successful writing career, which has produced 12 books.

Ursula Holden's account of her writing career is inspirational and a homage to her strength and determination. She sent her first novel to over 40 publishers without finding a home for it; her second novel was accepted by Carcanet Press but lack of money prevented publication and it was only when her work was finally picked up by the late Alan Ross of London Magazine that she was finally published. 'Write at Your Own Peril' is an engaging and powerful piece of writing that combines personal memoir with the joys and pains of writing for a living.

Ma Jian left China, uncomfortable at the level of censorship he encountered there. He found Hong Kong to be a city in which he could write freely without losing the inspiration he gained in China. However, when Hong Kong was returned to the Chinese in 1997 his discomfort returned, forcing him to move to the West, far from the people, colours and smells that stimulated his work. His piece 'A Chinese Writer in London' describes the issues he has to confront to continue his work.

Ursula Holden

'I was born in Dorset, one of five, in 1921. I lived in Egypt until I was almost three. I didn't shine at my school in Bognor Regis, except in poetry. During the war I served in the W.R.N.S. and then moved to Dublin. I have three children and have published 12 novels. I live in London now.'

Photograph: Gina Harris

Ma Jian

Ma Jian is the author of Red Dust, which won the Thomas Cook Travel Award, The Noodle Maker and Stick Out Your Tongue. He was born in Qingdao in 1953, and moved to Hong Kong in 1986, shortly before his novels were banned in China. After the handover, he moved to London, where he now lives.

Photograph: Flora Drew

Illustration © Maurizio Marmorato