The Nigerian writer’s first novel in nearly 50 years is a vivid, shocking story of political corruption in a country much like his homelandWole Soyinka’s new novel tells the multidimensional story of a secret society dealing in human parts for sacrific…
Voices from Australia’s Covid frontline: the shop owner and the customer
A children’s book seller and a mother of two have developed a strong sense of community during Melbourne’s long stretches in lockdownFollow our Covid live blog for the latest updatesNSW and Vic restrictions; Vic hotspotsVaccine rollout and rates tracke…
Amanda Gorman: ‘I wanted my words to re-sanctify the steps of the Capitol’
The youngest presidential inaugural poet in US history on Toni Morrison, the power of language and her debut children’s bookMy earliest reading memoryMy mom bought me a Hooked on Phonics reading kit when I was in early elementary school. I quite litera…
It’s No Time to Die: but is it time to revoke James Bond’s licence to kill?
In the 1960s, 007 was a glamorous antidote to postwar austerity, but now he’s more laughable than heroic. Can the Bond brand survive, post-Brexit?These blithering women,” said James Bond, “who thought they could do a man’s work? Why the hell couldn’t t…
Bernardine Evaristo on a childhood shaped by racism: ‘I was never going to give up’
My creativity can be traced back to my heritage, to the skin colour that defined how I was perceived. But, like my ancestors, I wouldn’t accept defeatWhen I won the Booker prize in 2019 for my novel Girl, Woman, Other, I became an “overnight success”, …
Wole Soyinka: ‘This book is my gift to Nigeria’
The Nobel laureate has produced plays, poems, essays and even inspired a pop duo but he hasn’t written a novel for nearly half a century – until nowAt 87, Wole Soyinka is a Nigerian icon. His plays have been performed around the world, his poems anthol…
Dinner Party: A Tragedy by Sarah Gilmartin review – family’s subtle poison
A finely observed Irish debut about a monstrous mother and dysfunctional siblings Kate slips away during a family dinner to throw a perfect baked alaska in the bin. “The freezer door was left open,” she lies to the gathered guests – her brothers Peter …
Armando Iannucci’s epic Covid poem: ‘It’s my emotional response to the past 18 months’
When Covid stalled his film work, the writer took revenge on the virus in the form of a poem about Britain, Brexit and the pandemic – exclusively extracted here Where do you start with the pandemic? It may have been one of the most universally shared m…
Tom Gauld’s idea for an instant bestseller – cartoon
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The climate crisis has made the idea of a better future impossible to imagine | Ian Jack
Despite all the analogies for this possibly terminal emergency, it is unlike anything that has come beforeWriting in 2003, the American environmentalist Bill McKibben observed that although “some small percentage” of scientists, diplomats and activists…