In this striking Women's Award-nominated debut novel, a young woman is drawn to an underworld of violent gangsters and connected to her Jamaican ancestors by a DJ clinking glasses to dub music. Jacqueline Crooks has created a richly textured world, cleverly drawing on… READ MORE
The weather took on a springy, winding quality during the Covid-19 lockdowns, if it maintained any consistency at all. Days passed, as did Zoom walks, catch-ups, and episodes of The Sopranos. Feeling a sense of "temporary strangeness," California-based artist and writer Jenny Odell installed... READ MORE
There is an irony in the fact that the title of this novel is the name of its protagonist/narrator. Thomas Nevinson had many personalities. He sometimes loses track of the character he embodies. In the long central section, he as he lives undercover in a Spanish provincial town where his true identity (wait) is unknown... READ MORE
Harry Potter author JK Rowling said she knew that when she spoke about her views on transgender issues, "a lot of people would be deeply unhappy with me." Speaking to host Megan Phelps-Roper on JK Rowling's The Witch Trials podcast, she said that despite claims that she betrayed the messages... READ MORE
Science, as much as art, is an act of imagination, the search for something new. While novels about scientists often play on this resemblance, there are also scientists who write with the ambition and empathy of novelists. Scientists in literature appear in all sorts of guises: as megalomaniacs, heroes,… READ MORE
One morning, as he was getting up, Henry Dimbleby's daughter asked him if he had always been so chubby. She admits it was "a great start to the day" and a tough question to answer. "Maintaining a healthy weight," for restaurant co-founder Léon turned food activist, "has always been a struggle." And Dimbleby doesn't... READ MORE
Shunned by some authors, defended by others: those who work in the publishing industry as “sensitive readers” have become the subject of heated debate in recent years. Sensitive readers may be hired by publishers, usually on a case-by-case basis, to read a book, usually prior to publication, and make editorial suggestions... READ MORE
Mid-Victorian society has never forgiven George Eliot for settling down in 1854 with an arrogant married man, the journalist and scientist GH Lewes. Late Victorian society, on the other hand, could not forgive her for choosing to marry in church when, after Lewes's death in 1878, he walked… READ MORE
Schools in the UK have a "limited stock of poetry books" and there are "many barriers" to teaching poetry, according to new research, with teachers more familiar with the poets they have studied at school. The Center for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE) and Macmillan Children's Books conducted a survey of … READ MORE
Stormzy, Tracey Emin, Barbara Kingsolver and Richard Osman are among those in attendance at this year's Hay Festival. The full festival program includes more than 500 face-to-face events that will take place from May 25 to June 4. Tickets are currently on sale for Friends of the… READ MORE
