Best poetry books of 2020
Clive James’s joyous farewell, David Bowie speaks to Simon Armitage – and sounds of the city from Caleb FemiWhile the pandemic might have stopped poets gathering physically, poetry itself is in good...
View ArticleWinston Churchill valued a united Europe | Observer letters
Boris Johnson forgets that his hero knew exactly what was needed to maintain lasting peace after the Second world warNick Cohen omits just one piece of history in his recollection of Churchill...
View ArticlePoem of the week: Afterwardness by Mimi Khalvati
Fragile but precious memories haunt this resonant sonnetAfterwardnessAn eleven-year-old boy from Aleppowhose eyes hold only things no longer there– a citadel, a moat, safe rooms of...
View ArticleLife without Air by Daisy Lafarge review – ecological poetry
A fierce and clear-eyed debut that finds a fresh way to explore humankind’s role in environmental chaos The novelist and poet Daisy Lafarge’s TS Eliot prize shortlisted debut collection offers a fresh...
View ArticlePoem of the month: The Magus by Alan Gillis
Lead me, skulking, through the polyvinylwhiff and fooster of HighStreet shops, the tepid white wine swillof another morning skyuntil the fugazi colours, perturbing sheenof one store’svideo advert on an...
View ArticleOn my radar: Lemn Sissay's cultural highlights
The author and poet on Ethiopia’s art – and its amazing piano-playing nun; plus an Instagram page with a differenceLemn Sissay is an author, poet and broadcaster born to an Ethiopian mother in 1967 in...
View ArticleThe best books of 2020, chosen by booksellers
From escapist novels to political awakenings, staff from award-winning independent bookshops pick the titles that got them through a trying yearAuthors’ books of the yearPages of Hackney, LondonTo...
View ArticleThe best books of 2020 – picked by our acclaimed guest authors
New fiction by Maggie O’Farrell and Hilary Mantel, a history of black Britons, a second helping of Lucian Freud… Our panel of writers – who all published books this year – share their favourite titles...
View ArticleThe Guardian view on advent: what are we waiting for? | Editorial
This year we have learned to mark time once more – bringing frustration and despair, but also new pleasuresWith advent, we have entered a period of codified waiting. For Christians this means...
View ArticlePoem of the week: My Stranger by Maria Taylor
A funny but poignant story conceals – and reveals – much about its narratorMy Strangerhangs where the plaster crackedand the ribs of the house show.He’s the only stranger I can afford,a middle-aged man...
View ArticleNobel literature prize winner Louise Glück reveals 'panic' in acceptance speech
On Monday it was also announced that the poet will publish a new collection, Winter Recipes from the Collective, in 2021Nobel laureate Louise Glück has revealed her “panic” at becoming the 16th female...
View ArticleHigh Man Pen Meander review – gorgeous homage to Edwin Morgan
Available onlineIn this exquisite film we go backstage at Glasgow’s Tron to hear and see the poet’s work performed with beguiling theatricalityIt’s been a long time since we saw the black doors of...
View ArticleElizabeth Barrett Browning letter describing lonely quarantine up for sale
Auctioneers say 1839 letter to her cousin bemoaning isolation in Torquay, with visitors ‘a thing forbidden’, is very apt reading this yearAlmost 200 years ago, the Victorian poet Elizabeth Barrett –...
View ArticlePoem of the week: On the Train by Harriet Monroe
The writer’s observations of fellow railway passengers in the 1920s coalesce into an authentically joyous workOn the TrainIThe lady in front of me in the car,With little red coils close over her...
View ArticleThe best books of 2020 to support indie publishers this Christmas
Some of the most outstanding books by small presses, from an extraordinary year‘It’s been a rollercoaster’: how indie publishers survived - and thrived - in 2020Earthlingsby Sayaka Murata (Granta)The...
View ArticlePaperchase removes card with orphan joke after protest from Lemn Sissay
After the poet joined others voicing dismay at Christmas card ‘punching down’ at children in care, the stationery chain has apologised and withdrawn itPaperchase has removed a card that mocked foster...
View ArticleDavid Constantine wins Queen's gold medal for poetry
Poet laureate Simon Armitage, a previous winner, praised the humanity of the author’s work ‘noticing and detailing the ways of the world’The Queen’s gold medal for poetry has been awarded to David...
View ArticleCan you crack it? The bumper books quiz of 2020
What day job did the Booker winner have while writing his novel? Who was rejected by Mills & Boon before becoming a bestselling author? Test your wits with questions from Bernardine Evaristo,...
View ArticleJackie Kay meets Brit Bennett: ‘I can't write about the pandemic. No part of...
The poet laureate of Scotland and the author of The Vanishing Half talk about featuring on ‘black reading lists’, the fear of wasting time and that tricky second novelRead the other conversations in...
View ArticlePoem of the week: Towards the End of the Feast by Andrew Greig
Chaos, and pathos, intrude on an awkward Christmas dinnerTowards the End of the FeastThe best way to bearthat flaming pudsignalling the latter stages of our feastContinue reading...
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