Poem of the week: City Boy by Peter Daniels
A young financier taking a drunken tumble might have been an easy target, but this gentle poem has no interest in blame gamesThis week's poem, City Boy, is by Peter Daniels and appears in his recently published first collection, Counting Eggs (Mulfran ...
Which superhero is about to come out as gay?
A DC Comics insider says an established character will be revealed as gay. Who could it be?The smart money is on Batman or Aquaman or Wonder Woman but, frankly, a case could be made for all or any of them: who is the comic book superhero who has been s...
Orange is not the only fruit: why book prizes, not sponsors, matter to writers
Orange's decision to withdraw its sponsorship of the women's prize for fiction is not the end of the world. What matters is not what the prize is called, but what it representsWaiting with the five other shortlisted novelists 12 years ago, as the chair...
Little Edale punches above its weight in the worlds of music and books
Singing, writing and all those walkers marching off up Grindsbrook Clough. Maybe the hamlet will produce a ballet next. Or a mural. Or an epic filmSmall but beautiful Edale in the Peak District is making its cultural mark, with successes in the worlds ...
Reader reviews roundup
An elegant review of Sarah Hall's The Beautiful Indifference, and differing opinions on a Hebridean murder mystery and Jack Kerouac's On the RoadFirst up this week, ElizabethBaines' really elegant and compelling review of Sarah Hall's recent short stor...
ok Festival aims to challenge the dominance of south Manchester
The festival has been set up to celebrate the authors and independent businesses that are thrivingAn innovative literary festival is taking place in north Manchester that aims to challenge the skewing of cultural events south of the city.The inaugural ...
Webchat: Paul Hendrickson
The author of Hemingway's Boat, will be online Friday 18 May from 1pm. Post now for a chance to grill him on this month's Reading Group idea of Ernest Hemingway as a 'macho' writerOn Friday 18 May at 1pm BST we will be joined by Paul Hendrickson, the a...
Poster poems: May
Traditionally a season of poles and ribbons, May can be merry and romantic, or the month when 'love that smiled in April' turns false. We invite you, garlanded or otherwise, to post your poemsWell, here we are in the fifth month of our poetic year. Her...
Dickens, Browning and Lear: what’s in a reputation?
The bicentenaries of three great Victorian writers underline the capricious nature of literary afterlivesWhat are the qualities that make a writer endure and flourish? It's an intriguing question whose answer includes luck, good timing and the mysterio...
Cameroon couple win asylum seeker status after long fight
Playwright Lydia Besong and her husband, Bernard Batey, can stay in the north west after their campaign was successfulThe news that a Cameroon playwright and her husband have won their asylum case after a long battle has been welcomed by campaigners.A ...
