Diana Athill, Margaret Atwood, Julian Barnes, Anne Enright, Howard Jacobson, Will Self and Lionel Shriver reflect on their own disappointments in life, love and work

Diana Athill: 'It is possible to make use of failure, and forget it'
Margaret Atwood: 'Get back on the horse that threw you'
Julian Barnes: 'Success to one person can be failure to another'
Ann Enright: 'Failure is what writers do. It is built in'
Howard Jacobson: 'You have to see failure as an opportunity'
Will Self: 'People say my writing is dreadful and pretentious'
Lionel Shriver: 'No one wants to buy a book about disappointment'