845 results

Colum McCann: An Infinity of Stories Once every few years, a novel comes along that genuinely opens up new ways of seeing the world. Colum McCann’s new novel Apeirogon might well be such a book. Two protagonists, Rami and Bassam – one a Palestinian, the other an Israeli – are each… Paul Mendez & Derek Owusu: Thorny Intersections How do you get the upper hand on a world you don’t yet understand? That’s the burning question at the heart of two striking debuts that scrape away the coming-of-age clichés, breathing through the aches and pains of growing up. With echoes of ea… Michel Faber: The ‘Evil Is In The ‘Etail One of Scotland’s most gifted and unpredictable writers, Michel Faber has always defied categorisation. His previous novels including The Crimson Petal and the White and The Book of Strange New Things have been described as ‘unbelievably clever,’ â€â€¦ Working with Words: Inside the New York Times Crossword ‘You can’t think of your troubles while solving a crossword.’ Margaret Farrar, Founding Crossword Editor, the New York Times The world’s first crossword puzzle was published in 1913. By 1924, Simon & Schuster had capitalised on the craze, publ… Sarah Crossan with Sally Magnusson: The Other Woman Sarah Crossan, former Irish Children’s Laureate has been delighting and moving younger readers for years with her award-winning books — 2016’s One about the life of conjoined twins won the Carnegie Medal — and her move to adult fiction is a cause … Jenny Offill: Storm Warning Not all big books are big. Jenny Offill’s acclaimed 2014 novel — the slim piece of autofiction Dept. of Speculation — was efficient and pared back to essentials, not even spelling out fully each word of its title. An autopsy of a marriage, the Guard… Writing Wrongs: Voices from the Queer Arab Vanguard Gender non-conforming and sexually diverse people are oppressed, persecuted and erased all over the world. The cultural concepts used to justify this — religious or secular, traditional or imported — are various, as are the histories that got us here.… Iain MacRitchie & Rich Thanki: Healing the Digital Divide 2020 has seen a huge surge in online content. From festivals to healthcare, and from galleries to schools, the internet is providing services, resources and networks to connect us to each other, from the safety of our self-isolation bubbles. But with 41% … Elif Shafak: Writing the World’s Wrongs ‘As the world becomes increasingly polarized, beset with anxiety, anger and tribalism, it’s time for us to turn to the art of storytelling for wisdom, connectivity and much-needed empathy.’ These are the words of Elif Shafak about her latest non-fic… Hallie Rubenhold: The Problem with Great Men Of the five women who died in the Autumn of 1888 at the hands of Jack the Ripper, the most salient thing that has remained in the public imagination has been the brutal manner of their murders. While the identity of the murderer has been the subject of re… Bernardine Evaristo with Nicola Sturgeon: The Triumph of Girl, Woman, Other Following her Booker Prize win last November, Bernardine Evaristo’s writing has won deserved and long-overdue acclaim across the globe. Girl, Woman, Other charts the intersecting lives of twelve characters, from a teenager working in a supermarket to a … James Naughtie: The USA, from Reagan to Trump Over the years that James Naughtie has been reporting on world politics, the USA has undergone seismic changes. Naughtie first visited the States in 1970 as a student, when the Vietnam War was raging and Richard Nixon was in the Oval Office. Since then, N… Adania Shibli: When the Present is Haunted by the Past A novel in two parts, Adania Shibli’s Minor Detail is superbly translated from the Arabic by Elisabeth Jaquette. The narrative begins in 1949 from the perspective of an Israeli soldier, operating with his platoon at the desert border with Egypt. In emot… The New York Times Book Review Live There is an intimacy to reading: it’s just us and the author; our subjective response and their generous, imaginative understanding of a world that we share but may struggle to articulate. Yet for book lovers, there are moments beyond that connection, b… Hilary Mantel: Inside the Head of Thomas Cromwell More than a decade in the making, Hilary Mantel’s masterpiece is now complete with the publication of the final part of her Thomas Cromwell trilogy, The Mirror and The Light. As any student of 16th century England knows, Cromwell’s life ended abruptly…