For the Guardian, Robert McCrum visits acclaimed novelist Richard Ford on the Irish coast, where the author travels every year to hunt woodcock. The two discuss the trajectory of Ford’s career and his intimate relationship with the late Raymond Carver.

I loved him (Carver) and still miss him every day. We liked to hunt and fish, and we did that together in the west. He got famous, and when he did, he invited me along with him. It was wonderful to cruise around with him as his sidekick…