Latest Blogs
Against Theory
Noam Chomsky is unimpressed by the great minds of European postmodernism.
The World Turned Upside Down
Kenan Malik talks to Princeton professor of modern European history Jonathan Israel about the Enlightenment and the connections between radical religion, democratic ideas and tolerance of difference of opinion.
Press Button B
Terry Eagleton will have no truck with the modern world and its noise and its gadgets and its silly babbling. Fair play to him.
A School for Booksellers
An institute founded by a scion of the Italian book distribution industry aims to arm the next generation of booksellers against the threat of being steamrollered by the online giants.
C’est la meme chose
Some non-Anglo-Saxon cultures, and particularly the French, seem prone to national panic in the face of la globalisation. But rumours and fears of cultural extinction are greatly exaggerated.
Poet, translator, patient, sinner
Oliver Bernard was a poet and an acclaimed translator of Rimbaud. He got up to a few other things as well.
Lydia Davis wins International Man Booker
The American minimalist short story writer follows Ismail Kadare, Chinua Achebe, Alice Munro and Philip Roth.
The Orwell Prize
The prestigious British prize has announced its annual winners in the categories of journalism and political writing, together with a special prize for foreign correspondent the late Marie Colvin, who died in Syria.
Speak the Best Word
Margaret Fuller, writing in 1840, had some very pertinent things to say about people who have opinions and like to sound off.
The Seven John Murrays
One of the most prestigious of British publishers existed as an independent entity from 1768 to 2002 and published Lord Byron, Jane Austen, Charles Darwin and many others.
No talent? His eyes flashed angrily
There is still time to book for Dan Brown in Dublin and hear how he does it.
Saloon Bar Blues
Philip Larkin is still among Britain’s most read poets, which must testify to a certain appetite for gloom. Alan Bennett however finds it is sometimes all a little too much.