How our list of the 100 best novels became a page turner

The Guardian’s landmark poll of the greatest novels published in English required collaboration and innovation across multiple desks. This is the story of how it came together Everyone was asking each other the same questions. How many have you read? Which ones are you going to read now? What must-reads do you think are missing? Matt Freeman, a 46-year-old designer from London, resolved to finally get around to Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie: “I’ve had it on my shelf for years – a clothbound edition because I thought that if I invested in a really great copy, I’d read it. And now I’ll finally do so – it’ll mean I can tick another one off this list.” He was talking about the Guardian’s list of the 100 best novels of all time, which was compiled from the votes of more than 170 authors, critics and academics from around the world. Matt was one of 400 Guardian readers who gathered in London’s Conway Hall last week for a sold-out panel event about the list, which we’d published as a countdown throughout the previous week. Around another 1,000 readers joined via a video livestream. Kiaran Weil, 74, had travelled from Darwen in north-west England and was there with her daughter and