"Because, after all, the Trojan War is a mythical war. It's a fragment that has been painted upon by generations of artists. It is fictional. It's a profoundly fictional work that has formed the Greek people, just as the Gospels are works of fiction. We have no historical accounts of Jesus. We only have artistic accounts, metaphorical accounts–the Gospels. Jesus is not a historical figure. There is nothing written directly about him. It's interesting to me that the West has been shaped by two works of fiction, The Iliad and The Odyssey and the Gospels, which are prehistoric artistic works. The West has two feet. They're both fictional feet, and after that we started being rational and reasonable."

Yann Martel is the author of Life of Pi, the #1 international bestseller and winner of the 2002 Man Booker (among other prizes). He is also the award-winning author of The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios (winner of the Journey Prize), Self, Beatrice & Virgil, and 101 Letters to a Prime Minister. Born in Spain in 1963, Martel studied philosophy at Trent University, worked at odd jobs—tree planter, dishwasher, security guard—and traveled widely before turning to writing. He lives in Saskatoon, Canada, with the writer Alice Kuipers* and their four children.

· www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/19175/yann-martel/

· www.creativeprocess.info