A one-sitting read is typically the domain of the short story – a form that largely depends on a reader’s pure, unbroken attention. But there is something special about the intensity of... Read more »
The last day of maternity leave, and an unnamed mother of two decides to stage a “yes day”, full of treats and good feelings. Of course it does not go according to... Read more »
A comic book featuring a “flan cannon”, thermal underwear and “hairy” jam topped the overall UK book chart last week, in the run-up to World Book Day on 5 March. Bunny vs... Read more »
Schools in England are moving away from pupils dressing up as their favourite literary characters for World Book Day, with experts telling MPs they feared the cost of costumes undermined efforts to... Read more »
The Secret Day My yesterday has gone, has gone and left me tired,And now tomorrow comes and beats upon the door;So I have built To-day, the day that I desired,Lest joy come... Read more »
Cancer is a subject the poet laureate Simon Armitage has always shied away from. “I find it very daunting,” he said. “I’ve lost friends and family to cancer.” But when he was... Read more »
At the start of A Single Man, George Falconer wakes up at home in the morning and drags himself despondently to the bathroom. There he stares at himself in the mirror, observing... Read more »
Lee Tamahori, the New Zealand director of Once Were Warriors and Die Another Day, has died aged 75. In a statement to Radio New Zealand, Tamahori’s family said he had Parkinson’s and... Read more »
Frederick Forsyth, the author who turned his adventures as a journalist and work with MI6 into bestselling thrillers, has died after a brief illness aged 86. Forsyth brought a reporter’s eye to... Read more »