A sculptor considers the meaning of art, sex and disaster, in this masterfully achieved miniature epic set against a deadly virusWhat if the virus had been more deadly, more infectious? What if the deaths in the UK had been in the millions rather than …
2021 年ノーベル文学賞は英小説家のアブドゥルラザク・グルナー氏が受賞
headless 曰く、2021 年ノーベル文学賞は英小説家のアブドゥルラザク・グルナー氏が受賞した。授賞理由は、植民地主義の影響および文化と大陸の隔たりにおける亡命者の運命に対する彼の徹底的かつ同情心のある洞察 (プレスリリース、 バイオビブリオグラフィー)。
グルナー氏は 1948 年、ザンジバル生まれ。1964 年のザンジバル革命で迫害の対象となったアラブ系のグルナー氏は学校卒業後、樹立されたばかりのタンザニア連合共和国により家族と離れて出国することを強制される。1960 年代の終わりに難民…
‘It feels like the start of something’: Reginald Dwayne Betts on his groundbreaking prison library project
The lawyer, poet and recent MacArthur genius grant recipient talks about his initiative Freedom Reads which offer inmates access to books across the USWhen Reginald Dwayne Betts fell in love with poetry as a young man, his reading options were limited….
The Nobel prize in literature 2021 – live!
Which author will become the 114th literature laureate?Nobel odds: Annie Ernaux is the favourite to win this year’s prize for literatureAs we pass the time until the ceremony starts, why not try this quiz on the Nobel prize website and see how many lau…
Lyrical tearaways: removable verses adorn streets for National Poetry Day
From Bristol to Glasgow, five poems will be displayed in public on the theme of choice. The writers introduce their works“Who can she be but, helplessly, herself?” reads a line from Imtiaz Dharker’s Choice, one of five poems appearing on billboards acr…
The Secret Royals by Richard Aldrich and Rory Cormac review – spying and the crown
Bizarre and disturbing episodes are revealed in this excellent history of the royal family’s relationship with espionageOn a March evening in 1974, having shot and wounded Princess Anne’s protection officer and driver, Ian Ball began remonstrating with…
Rationality by Steven Pinker review – reason and beyond
Our powers of reason have undoubtedly made the world a better place. So why are we so in thrall to fake news? ‘Rationality ought to be the lodestar of everything we think or do.” This is the opening sentence of Steven Pinker’s call for a return to reas…
‘I just wanted to write something funny for my friends’: Torrey Peters on Detransition, Baby
Her novel caused a storm when it was longlisted for the Women’s prize, and is one of the most talked-about of the year. She talks to a writer and trans dad about LGBTQ+ families and the ‘Sex and the City problem’Torrey Peters did not write Detransition…
The Mirror and the Light review – Cromwell’s spell is finally broken
Gielgud theatre, LondonThe climactic play based on Hilary Mantel’s magisterial trilogy has wit and grace but no great dramatic releaseIt’s a truism all too well known to Thomas Cromwell that history is written by the victors. By the final volume in Hil…
Robert Richardson obituary
Crime writer who drew on his experience as a Fleet Street journalist to colour his thrillersThe crime writer Robert Richardson, who has died aged 80, started out as the inventor of Gus (Augustus) Maltravers, an erudite playwright and classic amateur sl…