For those of us who went to hear A.S. Byatt speak at UCLA, tonight will remain an evening to remember. She was interviewed by Santa Monica’s own Michael Silverblatt, the admirable host of KCRW’s literary talk-show “Bookworm.”

As the evening progressed, Silverblatt commented he feels at times that he is “living in a culture where people are angry at the literary.”

Byatt agreed. She remarked that she comes from a working-class family, whose members took turns reciting Keats at the dinner table. Literature meant everything to them; it was an activity of choice and engagement. Such anger surprises her, she said, because literature is one of the few things in life which belongs to everyone, regardless of social or economic class.

Byatt also finds it strange that some readers argue her use of references to classic works of literature is threatening, not inspiring. Others charge her with “showing off” her remarkable knowledge of literature, an idea which, it turns out, is unsurprisingly foreign to Byatt, who taught at University College in London before turning to writing full-time. “I always get excited about learning something new,” she said. Such inclusions of fragments of other works shed light on the stories she tells, creating revelations, and possibly inspiring readers unfamiliar with her references to seek out their sources.