Hollie McNish: ‘Being a writer didn’t enter my mind – I wanted a job that involved roller-skating’
The poet on discovering Seamus Heaney, revisiting Alice Walker and the joy of Allan Ahlberg
August 2023
The books of my life
Ayòbámi Adébáyò: ‘I read The Go-Between by LP Hartley and couldn’t stop crying’
The Booker-longlisted Nigerian author on the elementary appeal of Sherlock Holmes, crying with LP Hartley and the joys of rereading
May 2023
A Life of One’s Own by Joanna Biggs review – on the shoulders of giants
Top 10s
Top 10 novels about motherhood
April 2023
Top 10s
Top 10 first lines in fiction
The first words of a story have to do a lot of work in snaring the reader. Novelist Liz Nugent considers some of her favourites
March 2023
‘Just the tip of the iceberg’: Kimberlé Crenshaw warns against rightwing battle over critical race theory
Exclusive: Author and academic cautions pushback against racial justice education feeds revival of segregationist policies
January 2023
Republic of Parenthood
I left my baby to write this. How do artists balance creativity and the ache for their child?
Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett
All writers and painters who are mothers must tread a heroic path. In an ideal world, we wouldn’t have to, says the Guardian columnist Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett
September 2022
Top 10s
Top 10 novels that interrupt time
Most stories adhere to linear plots, but a select few – by authors from Martin Amis to Muriel Spark and Toni Morrison – respin the cogs to unforgettable effect
August 2022
Texas school district pulls the Bible, The Bluest Eye and other books from library
Books interview
Namwali Serpell: ‘I find uncertainty compelling in literature’
July 2022
Audiobook of the week
Recitatif by Toni Morrison audiobook review – an experiment in racial bias
Where to start with
Where to start with: Toni Morrison
March 2022
Top 10s
Top 10 novels about toxic friendships
The books of my life
Madeline Miller: ‘Reading Ayn Rand was like being dipped in slime’
February 2022
Toni Morrison novel The Bluest Eye off banned list in St Louis schools
Nobel laureate’s classic debut was removed from libraries but backlash and lawsuits prompted vote to restore
November 2021
US libraries report spike in organised attempts to ban books in schools
The American Library Association, which monitors ‘challenges’ to books, says social media have amplified protests to the highest number for decades
October 2021
The Republicans’ racial culture war is reaching new heights in Virginia
Sidney Blumenthal
Why is the Republican running for governor of Virginia going after Toni Morrison’s award-winning novel Beloved?
July 2021
Top 10s
Top 10 platonic friendships in fiction
From Doris Lessing to Dickens and John Irving, these tales show how passionate, intense and vital ‘just’ friendships can be
June 2021
Top 10s
Top 10 books about public spaces
From Toni Morrison and Zadie Smith to Peter Benchley, novelist Jonathan Lee chooses books that celebrate areas where strangers can mingle and be less alone
May 2021
Books that made me
Patrick Ness: ‘Terry Pratchett makes you feel seen and forgiven’
The author celebrates the most perfect sentence by Toni Morrison and his struggles with Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch
