Hilary Mantel’s death is an incalculable loss to our national life and literature
The late novelist’s extraordinary talent was to take our collective history and make it new.
ByLiterature
Immerse yourself in the captivating world of literature with our collection of articles, offering literary analysis, book recommendations, author spotlights, and thought-provoking discussions that celebrate the written word.
The Philip Pullman affair shows social media is where good arguments go to die
The author of His Dark Materials has spoken out against “gesture politics” – but he too adds fuel to the…
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AN Wilson: the assembly-line intellectual
The writer’s exasperating new memoir offers a full dinner service of clichés and an insight into the glib fogeyism of…
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Thus Bad Begins confirms Javier Marías as a master of the novel form
Marías’ masterful expression of his characters’ psychological weather, combined with Margaret Jull Costa’s gifted translation, makes for rewarding reading.
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Philip Larkin at 100
Writers reflect on the poet’s life, work and legacy, a century after his birth.
Donna Tartt’s The Secret History at 30
How a bestselling debut novel about a group of murderous students became a cult classic.
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Writing in the age of Big Data
Alexander Kluge’s information epic and how the time for learning is running out.
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Ian McEwan’s long look back
The novelist on Liz Truss, Salman Rushdie, and why he finally decided to write his own story into his new…
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From spy to journalist to celebrated poet: the curious life of Basil Bunting
The letters of the Northumbrian modernist reveal an idiosyncratic career and an exacting critical mind.
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Reviewed in short: New books by Guy Standing, Stu Hennigan, Jessica Andrews and Don Paterson
The Blue Commons by Standing, Ghost Signs by Hennigan, Milk Teeth by Andrews and The Arctic by Paterson.
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In drought-struck England, I have a moment of connection with another living creature
At first, I didn’t see the deer – but then I saw it was looking straight at me.
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The NS Poem: West Cork
A new poem by Kevin Cahill.
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France and the fatwa
The attack on Salman Rushdie has exposed the deepening fault lines in French culture.
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Natalia Ginzburg’s small worlds
Years of anti-fascist struggle shaped the author’s intense portraits of family life in Mussolini’s Italy. Now, her books are undergoing…
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Mohsin Hamid: “After 9/11, I was treated as a potential terrorist”
The Booker-shortlisted author on race, America and his new novel, The Last White Man.
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The best children’s books for summer 2022
Magic and nature help children confront their fears in the best new books for young readers.
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A life without peace
A new collection of autobiographical prose reveals the turbulent inner life of the celebrated poet Robert Lowell.
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The attack on Salman Rushdie is an attack on a global community of writers and readers
The freedom of expression and imagination that the novelist has bravely championed for so long is under renewed assault.
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The mysterious life of Inez Holden
The novelist and former Bright Young Thing ably captured Britain in the early 20th century. Her work deserves to be…
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Raymond Briggs’ genius was his understanding of loss
The writer and illustrator has died aged 88. From The Snowman to When the Wind Blows, his work was sensitive…
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