‘Is there any value in writing a story in a time of chaos?’: novelist Elif Shafak on her creative crisis

The Turkish writer talks about her nomadic childhood, being targeted by the Turkish government and overcoming depression to write her latest novel

‘People’s dignity, and democracy, is at stake’: meet the economist ditching ideology for reality

Exclusive: Isabella Weber prescribes a common-sense solution to poverty, inequality and fascism – making life’s essentials affordable for all

‘To succeed meant to leave’: inside the jolting film about Brummie estate kids knocked flying by demolition

The novel had no hero, no dialogue and little action. So how was I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning turned into such a funny, rousing and acclaimed film? Director Clio Barnard reveals all

‘Try to eat really well, 80% of the time’: nutrition expert says healthy eating is easier than you think

Christopher Gardner, the author of Food Sense and director of nutrition studies at Stanford, says we have overcomplicated the question of what to eat

A moment that changed me: I learned to read and write – at 42

I had worked for 25 years, married and started a family. But a crisis at the supermarket reminded me there was something missing from my life

‘We were not going to let this rapist destroy our lives’: how one couple came to terms with a devastating attack

After Susan Brison was raped and left for dead, her husband, Thomas, did his best to support her. They are still together, while many relationships collapse after a sexual assault. What did he get right – and wrong?

‘The crime fiction I’m interested in is political’: Ian Rankin on his new novel about the super-rich

The bestselling writer talks about leaving Edinburgh for London in his latest mystery, and what the future holds for Rebus

‘People forgot I existed’: Audrey Niffenegger on taking 14 years to write a sequel to The Time Traveler’s Wife

Her debut made her a global star. Now she has finally written a follow-up – and this time, it’s political. She talks about impostor syndrome, screen adaptations and becoming radicalised

Mao’s Last Dancer Li Cunxin on his long-awaited follow-up: ‘I don’t think my publisher expected it to take 14 years!’

As The Lucky Son picks up where Cunxin’s 2003 memoir left off, the renowned Chinese Australian ballet dancer reflects on sacrifices made by his wife, his years at a stockbroker, and his success leading the Queensland Ballet

Severed hands, crushed bones and a ‘monstrous mermaid with sharp teeth’: Reece Shearsmith on his dark obsessions

The League of Gentlemen and Inside No 9 co-creator has always displayed a sense of gothic unease, and his new book combines myth, memoir – and his own disquieting drawings

Tents, night-vision goggles and bear tracking kits: America’s first nature library opens

As well as books, the new facility in Colorado offers equipment to help connect people with the natural world. We asked five of the first visitors what they thought of it

‘My first photographs coincided with me falling in love’: why children have always adored taking pictures

What makes someone pick up a camera at a young age, and what can their images tell us? A new book and show explore why a child’s first photo could be as formative as their first record

My sister Nicole married OJ Simpson. This is what I wish I had known

Since Nicole Brown Simpson’s murder in 1994, Denise Brown has devoted herself to ending domestic violence. She talks about her beloved sister, the trauma she witnessed in the couple’s marriage and how lives can be saved

‘We have been dispossessed’: Nick Hayes on land rights and a peaceful revolution at the real Toad Hall

The co-founder of the Right to Roam campaign and author of The Book of Trespass discusses the Oxfordshire riverside community he calls home and how Hardwick Hall has been taken back by the people

‘I thought, if I’m going to die, I’m going to write a book first’: Pachinko author Min Jin Lee

Her last novel sold 5m copies and was adapted into a hit series. Nearly 10 years on, the Korean-American author has written another epic. She discusses ambition and the diagnosis that inspired her to leave work and write