“At what precise moment had Peru fucked itself up?” Those words on the opening page of Conversation in the Cathedral announced the arrival of a writer who understood that national history could become... Read more »
Patrice Lawrence has been named the new Waterstones children’s laureate, and is planning to use her appointment to highlight how reading helps communities “connect and cohere” in “times of fragmentation”. Lawrence, known... Read more »
The children’s laureate, Frank Cottrell-Boyce, has urged the government to prioritise pleasure over learning in children’s reading. Giving evidence to MPs on the education committee, which is investigating the decline in reading... Read more »
Frank Cottrell-Boyce has urged policymakers to treat children’s reading as a “right” rather than a parental duty, warning that Britain is failing to understand the emotional and social value of reading, as... Read more »
In the opening pages of The Palm House, London is enveloped in a dust storm blown up from the Sahara. As old friends Laura and Putnam meet for a drink in a... Read more »
The Trump administration has revoked the visa for Wole Soyinka, the acclaimed Nigerian Nobel prize-winning writer who has been critical of Trump since his first presidency, Soyinka revealed on Tuesday. “I want... Read more »
At a time when its leadership is in question and its mission challenged, the Library of Congress has named a new US poet laureate: the much-honored author and translator Arthur Sze. The... Read more »
A storyteller of understated brilliance, Abdulrazak Gurnah was awarded the 2021 Nobel prize in literature for his “uncompromising and compassionate penetration of the effects of colonialism and the fate of the refugee... Read more »
Children’s laureate Frank Cottrell-Boyce is calling on Keir Starmer’s government to “stand up and give a visible sign that this country values its children”. The author is holding a summit on children’s... Read more »