Last year, writers Toby Litt and Ali Smith provoked controversy with the perceived implication in their introduction to New Writing 13 (including one of Simpson’s stories) that they were disappointed in the “domestic” nature of so many of the submissions by women. Simpson dismisses the fuss. “They were horrified at being presented as saying domestic writing is boring. You can be as serious about and deal with as important things in a landscape that involves people and armchairs. People live in rooms. It’s life.”