The English do not understand the French, or at any rate didn’t until the master thinkers of structuralism and poststructuralism began to invade their universities.

The publication of Tristram Shandy, an anti-novel that became a model for many more, transformed him from an obscure country clergyman into the toast of London.

Tipperary writer Donal Ryan’s novel is one of four which, together with one non-fiction title, have been nominated for the Guardian First Book award.

A refusal can often offend, but this is less likely to be the case when it’s written in verse and composed by Margaret Atwood.

Albert Camus was born a hundred years ago this week. Towards the end of his short life he parted company from most French opinion on both left and right over the future of Algeria.

Not everyone is impressed by the gargantuan Booker Prize winner.

The old Austro-Hungarian empire collapsed into its component parts after the First World War, a victim of rising nationalism and Woodrow Wilson’s backing for national self-determination. Given the wave of fascism and authoritarianism that followed, leading to another war, many people thought something very valuable had been lost.

A new play performed by the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts, features a superb portrayal of Lyndon Baines Johnson by Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston.

Steve Logan writes of his slight acquaintance with Seamus Heaney and his influence on him as a university teacher.

Democracy and debate are all very well – in their place. But sometimes we should surely just listen to the advice of people who know more about these things than we do.