I managed to get into Ravensbourne College of Art, where they did A-levels in a kind of Portacabin round the back. It was a wonderful place, full of kids with paint all over their faces, putting on plays and performing in bands. I did English, politics and history; I got an A in English; I was surprised because I hadn't done much work I would sit at home and write a novel rather than an essay. At Raglan Road Junior School, in Bromley, I remember learning to read seriously at around seven or eight.

That guaranteed me some independence, that is, I could read a book - Billy Bunter, Jennings & Darbishire and particularly Enid Blyton, whom I loved - and enjoy it at my own speed. My dad had a big library and I remember him going into second-hand bookshops and climbing up ladders, while I waited, as my kids now wait for me. Secondary school: I enjoyed my education until I was 11. I wanted to go to a grammar school but they wouldn't let me in. I went to Ravenswood, a pretty wretched "technical" school where I spent most of my time with a chisel in my hand. Most of the teachers weren't interested in us, nor we in them. Luckily for me, it was the Sixties and most of us were interested in pop music and the Vietnam war; and you could buy Jack Kerouac novels in Bromley.

`Midnight All Day', his collection of short stories, is out now Primary school: I would like to write children's books, a lovely form. Hanif Kureishi's latest novel, `Intimacy', is currently being filmed. So they try to make the portrayal of the last week of Jesus's life true to contemporary understanding of the historical sources. Those who are lucky enough to have a ticket for the Oberammergau Passion Play, feel that they are sharing in a piece of living history.Michael Counsell is the author of `Every Pilgrim's Guide to Oberammergau and its Passion Play' (Canterbury Press, Norwich, pounds 6.99). Each time the play is produced, they take advice on the text from Lutheran and Roman Catholic Biblical scholars.