Celebrated marbled image in Tristram Shandy inspires fundraising auction
Perplexing page of the classic novel prompts 169 leading artists to donate work in aid of the Laurence Sterne TrustWhen Laurence Sterne published the third volume of his masterpiece Tristram Shandy 250 years ago, his many fans were well prepared for hi...
David Bowie is publishers’ top target as rock memoirs prove huge success
Success of books by Keith Richards and others sparks publishing scramble for big five stars without book dealsCall them the Big Five. Game hunters have their wish-list of trophy animals, and rock music has its own – the elite group of rock stars yet ...
Smiley starts a row over reluctance to commission original scripts
Remake of BBC's adaptation of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy reopens debate over lack of originality from studio bossesPlans for a spate of big budget remakes of classic films and television series this summer have raised fears among screenwriters that t...
Arts, anger and atonement in Bridport
I once wrote a report on Bridport's burgeoning cultural scene. Residents of the town still haven't forgiven me. Will they now?It may not be a scandal on the level of the phone hacking furore but I still have a real problem showing my face in Bridport. ...
A Spectacle of Dust by Pete Postlethwaite – review
Pete Postlethwaite's autobiography reveals his total commitment to his craftThe hell-for-leather pace of this memoir by the maverick actor Pete Postlethwaite is explained by the fact that death was knocking fairly insistently at the door as he put it t...
Salman Rushdie says TV drama series have taken the place of novels
Booker-prizewinning novelist to write sci-fi drama for television, citing The Wire, The Sopranos and Mad Men as an inspirationSalman Rushdie is to make a sci-fi television series in the belief that quality TV drama has taken over from film and the nove...
David Mamet launches tirade against ‘antisemitism’ of British writers
American playwright says books, plays and essays by contemporary authors are full of anti-Jewish 'filth'Leading US playwright David Mamet has launched an attack on the British literary establishment over what he claims are inherently antisemitic attitu...
First Lady of Fleet Street by Eilat Negev and Yehuda Koren – review
The first female editor of a British national newspaper came from this very parish – and now Rachel Sassoon Beer gets her due at lastWho was the first woman to edit a national newspaper in Britain? It is a piece of information that might be stored aw...
George Best’s widow and his lover unite against ‘totally unfair’ memoir
Celia Walden's book would have made the Manchester United star 'absolutely livid', say women who knew him bestThe former mistress of George Best, Gina Devivo, has joined forces with the footballer's widow to claim that a new book about the period lead...
Shakespeare gets the starring role in cultural celebration alongside Olympics
Experts ask if the Bard is Britain's only exportable brand as leading organisations recruit playwright for GamesThis country may be the birthplace of Chaucer, Milton, Austen, the Brontë sisters and Dickens, but Britain has only one dominant calling ca...
Cannes sensation Lynne Ramsay finds inspiration in her own family drama
We Need to Talk About Kevin director found recalling her mother's past troubles key to filmingThe Scottish film-maker Lynne Ramsay, whose acclaimed We Need to Talk About Kevin is in competition for the Palme D'Or this year, has revealed that her own fa...
Robert Louis Stevenson gets his revenge on sneaky literary agent – 120 years later
The Treasure Island author's fairytales are finally to be published in one set, as he intendedThe literary betrayal of one of the most popular writers in the English language, Robert Louis Stevenson, is to be avenged in the first collected edition of t...
