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Two Women by Jacqueline Rose review – a memorial to Gillian Rose
The connections between the author’s sister and the German Jewish philosopher Edith Stein are vividly imagined in alternating chapters of a fictional biography In a long and distinguished career as a feminist cultural critic, Jacqueline Rose has combined psychoanalysis, politics, human rights and…
Look at Me by Dustin Hoffman review – an era-defining actor says his piece
At 89, the star of the Graduate and Ran Man demonstrates both brilliance and a startling lack of self-awareness The choice of title for an actor’s autobiography can be revealing. Sylvester Stallone went with The Steps , conflating life’s challenging progress with the grand staircase of the…
Tom Gauld on prompts for a cartoon about artificial intelligence and writing – cartoon
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‘No tech, no texts, just childhood’: author Liz Pichon on the secrets behind her multi-million selling Tom Gates series
As her long-running children’s book series turns 15, Liz Pichon talks about overcoming dyslexia to become a bestselling author If you ever find yourself in an airport newsagent, it might be worth peering inside one of Liz Pichon’s books. “I do guerrilla signings,” she tells me conspiratorially…
The efficiency trap: why optimising everything can backfire, badly
From roundabouts to the stock market, relentless streamlining could be making the world more dangerous We have all been there: packed shoulder to shoulder on the train while the person beside us coughs and sneezes. A protective flu jab offers some reassurance, but so does the thought that there…
Narrative threads: How to write a Booker-shortlisted novel, by Marlon James, Douglas Stuart, Elizabeth Strout and more
A trip to the Scottish islands, a psychological experiment, a chance encounter in a drugstore… the finalists for this year’s Booker prize reveal their inspirations Who knows where a novel really comes from? I spend years gathering loose threads and then, when I feel like the cloth will hold, I…
Russell Brand books withdrawn by UK publishers after his conviction for rape and sexual assault
Pan Macmillan and Hodder & Stoughton have both confirmed that work by the comedian and writer will be pulled, and other publishers’ books are no longer available Two major British publishers have confirmed they have pulled Russell Brand’s books from sale after he was convicted of rape and sexual…
The best recent poetry – review roundup
The Universe is an Animal by Jessica Mookherjee; Sleep Gate by Sylvia Legris; The Other Love by Henri Cole; Stay Winter by Nidhi Zak/Aria Eipe The Universe Is an Animal by Jessica Mookherjee (Nine Arches, £11.99) In this confident and capacious collection, scientific language commingles with…
Nikita Gill: ‘I read Flowers in the Attic too young. Someone should have stopped me’
The Indian-Irish poet on the Mahabharata retelling that inspired her to write, Arundhati Roy’s courage, and the poetry of Lucille Clifton My earliest reading memory My father was a sailor and my mother a teacher. They were both voracious readers. I was lucky enough to come from a home full of books…
True North by Paul Theroux review – an American’s view of Canada
The veteran travel writer turns his eye for detail on his northern neighbour and its people Paul Theroux’s arrival in Canada doesn’t go well. An immigration officer called Sweeney finds a small pocketknife in his car and fines him $500 for failing to declare a weapon. “I’m going to make you…
Winner of the Prix Goncourt literary prize admits to using AI
Philippe Jaenada told French radio that he used ChatGPT to ‘play with the reader’, after the prize removed a different book from its longlist over allegations of AI use The winner of France’s most prestigious literary prize has admitted using artificial intelligence while writing his novel, barely…
Feminism for a World on Fire by Natasha Walter audiobook review – an urgent call for collective action
The writer and activist finds galvanising energy in grassroots initiatives in the face of inequality and the climate crisis ‘Throughout the world confidence in progress has shattered,” notes Natasha Walter. “The certainty – even the hope – that human rights equality might be within everyone’s reach…
Where to start with: John Berger
The influential British writer and critic was born 100 years ago today. Here’s a guide to his genre-bending writing on art, love, sex, mortality and more John Berger was born a hundred years ago today. He was an artist, critic, novelist, poet, polemicist and playwright who made impassioned…
Was one of the great novels of the Enlightenment written by a man who thought he was a werewolf?
Surreal, mysterious and with an outlandish origin story, Jan Potocki’s The Manuscript Found in Saragossa has amassed a cult following that includes Salman Rushdie and Jerry Garcia. But it’s the book’s global humanism makes it relevant now, say the curators of a new exhibition A young Walloon…
American Hagwon by Min Jin Lee review – a gloriously immersive follow-up to Pachinko
A Korean family is willing to sacrifice everything for their children’s education, in the third book in Lee’s Diaspora Quartet “An excellent hagwon,” according to one of the characters in Min Jin Lee’s new novel, “is everything.” Every year, Korean parents pay hefty sums to send their children to…
‘Blockbuster’ history of Alexander the Great wins £50,000 Baillie Gifford prize
Alexander: God, King, Man by Edmund Richardson becomes the first ancient history title to win the prestigious nonfiction award • Alexander: God, King, Man by Edmund Richardson review – a dazzling, dizzying adventure Edmund Richardson has won the 2026 Baillie Gifford prize for nonfiction for…
Alexander: God, King, Man by Edmund Richardson review – a dazzling, dizzying adventure
The winner of the 2026 Baillie Gifford prize is a riveting work of ancient history that feels startlingly present • ‘Blockbuster’ history of Alexander the Great wins £50,000 Baillie Gifford prize In 336BC, Alexander was not great. He was a wiry 20-year-old “no one had thought much about” who found…
‘He was destined for this award’: China Miéville wins Goldsmiths prize for 1,200-page novel
The Rouse, which took its author two decades to complete, was praised by judges as ‘exuberant, overflowing’ China Miéville has won the £10,000 Goldsmiths prize for The Rouse, a 1,264-page epic that is part paranormal thriller, part historical saga moving through decades of British imperial and cold…
A Table for Fortune by William T Vollmann review – a hugely ambitious 3,000-page portrait of America’s decline
This insider’s history of the CIA explores the last 50 years of US foreign policy with granular detail and mordant humour The 250th year of the American experiment seems to invite a reckoning. For a young country, the United States is overblessed – or burdened – with myths about its foundation and…
A Life in Fragments by Marina Litvinenko review – intimate testimony of Putin’s poisonous regime
The wife of murdered Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko rages against Putin’s state, in a moving memoir of life in exile, love and loss Among the many images of violence that might be used to define Putin’s chilly reign, one stands out. The photo of the Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko…
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