It’s polyphony, but with a murder
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.
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An Unoffending Refusal
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.
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Prix Goncourt winner
France’s most prestigious literary prize has been awarded to Pierre Lemaitre, a writer previously best known for his crime novels.
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D’Annunzio biography takes Johnson prize
Britain’s major prize for non-fiction has been won by a biography of the Italian poet Gabriele D’Annunzio.
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Camus and Algeria
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.
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Mrs Thatcher, blood, guts and bumblebees
The winner of the main literary prize for serious non-fiction writing in Britain is about to be announced.
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We’re All Done For
More figures on e-books and paper books, more trends and countertrends. What can it all mean?
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The Function of Frogs and Princes
Jeanette Winterson makes a plea for the autonomy of the imagination and the role of the non-rational in explaining to us who we are.
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Censorship Polish Style
The publisher of a controversial biography of Polish journalist Ryszard Kapuściński has agreed to withdraw the book after a protracted legal dispute.
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Monster from the South Seas
Not everyone is impressed by the gargantuan Booker Prize winner.