Monsters in the Archives by Caroline Bicks review – the writing secrets of Stephen King
A deep dive into the horror novelist’s archives reveals pedantry, penny-pinching, and a total redraft of Carrie
‘Serve, smile, procreate’: Yesteryear author Caro Claire Burke on the rise of the tradwife
As her dark debut about a tradwife who wakes up in the past is made into a film by Anne Hathaway, the novelist explores the sinister truth behind the barefoot influencers
‘Soon publishers won’t stand a chance’: literary world in struggle to detect AI-written books
US release of horror novel Shy Girl cancelled and UK book discontinued after suspected AI use, as publishers feel ‘cold shiver’
A new Austen drama made me wonder: is the fate of bookish young women really so different today?
The Other Bennet Sister reminded me of my own self-consciousness – and worry that girls still have to play down their cleverness, says Guardian columnist Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett
Shaun Micallef: ‘Charlie Pickering said that’s the only thing keeping him going – to vanquish me’
The comedian and author on writing a gothic novel, giving up butter and the film he has watched 30 times
‘I was in the pit of despair’: Non-speaking autistic novelist Woody Brown on his journey from write-off to writer
As a child, Brown was underestimated, infantilised and dismissed by specialists and teachers. Now 28, he has written an acclaimed debut novel set in an adult day care centre that gives people like him a voice
Children and teens roundup – the best new picture books and novels
Musical inspiration from Corinne Bailey Rae; danger in a magical academy; the adventures of an otter pup; a YA queer gothic fantasy, and more
Love Lane by Patrick Gale review – a homecoming tale with echoes of Brokeback Mountain
This kindly and companionable story of a man returning to 50s England after living in Canada offers a colourful evocation of the times
No New York by Adele Bertei review – a vivid, vibrant, musical coming of age
1970s and 80s New York are viscerally evoked in this potent memoir of the ‘no wave’ scene
A Far-flung Life by ML Stedman review – a masterful examination of loss
In her follow-up to The Light Between Oceans, the Western Australian author follows generations of a farming family as they weather calamity and change
Sleep Tight, Disgusting Blob wins Waterstones children’s book prize
Huw Aaron’s tale of a green blob reading to its child takes overall prize, while Janeen Hayat wins in the young readers category and SF Williamson in the older readers
‘Effortlessly hip’: two novels named joint winners of Queen Mary small press fiction prize
Rebecca Gransden’s Figures Crossing the Field Towards the Group and Nell Osborne’s Ghost Driver ‘crossed the line together’ to take award previously known as the Republic of Consciousness prize
Alexander Kluge, author and key film-maker in the New German Cinema movement, dies aged 94
A winner of the Golden Lion at Venice, Kluge was a committed pacifist and one of the last living torchbearers of the Frankfurt school of neo-Marxist cultural criticism
The Two Roberts by Damian Barr audiobook review – love and lost dreams in bohemian London
This fictionalised account of the relationship between real-life artists Bobby MacBryde and Robert Colquhoun vividly depicts their romance and rise to fame – and the fall from grace that followed
Country star Ty Herndon: ‘The drugs could be forgiven. Being gay definitely could not’
In an honest new memoir, the musician opens up about being closeted in country, sexual assault and finding love in his 60s