Opera librettist Amanda Holden obituary

Scholar of opera who translated librettos into English, wrote ones of her own and edited guides to encourage new listeners

Jonathan Mirsky obituary

Journalist and historian of China who went from admiring the regime to being one of its sternest critics

Girls Aloud singer who later wrote a memoir about her rackety life as a pop star and her cancer diagnosis

American journalist who covered the Vietnam war and was known as the ‘soldier’s reporter’

Author of the 1960s bestseller In Praise of Older Women whose life and work were informed by his early years in occupied Hungary

Writer who frequently drew on her difficult relationship with her mother, the novelist Antonia White

Author and illustrator of relatable yet magical children’s books, including The Worst Witch and Whatever Next!

Other lives: Expert theorist on the relationship between paganism and Arthurian legends

Other lives: Founder with his wife, Frances, of the Old Stile Press

Poet who expressed female experience through dub and was a powerful performer of her own work

Novelist known for exploring the lives of women and their relationships who had a deep commitment to her native Wales

Foreign correspondent, human rights activist and author of acclaimed books on women and art

Bestselling author whose fascination with death and violence found expression in the Jack Caffery crime novels

Writer who invited the gods back into literature in an ambitious series retelling the great ancient myths

Novelist who brought out the humour in the everyday triumphs and failures of her heroines