Cultural prescription: plays, films, books and more to help you start university
From Educating Rita to The Secret History, Guardian critics suggest some comfort viewing and listening to take on campus
Pennsylvania school district reverses ban on books by authors of colour
The Central York school board has gone back on its decision to bar a list of titles by or about people of colour from being used as educational resources
Grace Hallworth obituary
Other lives: Children’s librarian and storyteller who was part of an ancient tradition that stretches from the Caribbean to Connemara
Mary Beard: ‘If we want to understand what we went through in the pandemic, we need the arts’
The classicist on owning her TV image, dealing with internet trolls, and why her new book on Roman emperors sheds light on our preoccupation with statues
Wonderworks by Angus Fletcher review – the power of invention
A close analysis of the science of stories reveals literature’s ability to change its readers, and the world
Passing the ‘chimp test’: how women were key to the birth of language
How did humans learn to talk and why haven’t chimpanzees followed suit? Linguistics expert Sverker Johansson busts some chauvinist myths
Forever Free review: how education fails Black children – and how to put it right
Tracy Swinton Bailey has written an inspiring book about Freedom Readers and how to use literacy for good
Society of Authors distances itself from Philip Pullman’s tweets
The UK’s largest trade union for writers emphasised its anti-racist stance after its president, Pullman, showed support for Kate Clanchy on social media
Kate Clanchy to rewrite memoir amid criticism of ‘racist and ableist tropes’
Poet and teacher has apologised for ‘overreacting’ to scrutiny of book’s portrayals of autistic pupils and children of colour
Kate Clanchy book may be updated to remove racial stereotypes after criticism
Publisher Picador says it is looking at changing passages in prize-winning memoir, which Clanchy intially claimed were not in the book at all
Re-educated by Lucy Kellaway review – straight to the top of the class
This former Financial Times columnist’s account of why, aged 57, she began a new life as a teacher in an inner London comprehensive is brutally honest, fascinating and moving
Cambridge college bans swimming at literary skinny-dipping spot
Petition signed by 8,000 after King’s College takes ‘reluctant’ step on River Cam at Grantchester Meadows
Black Teacher by Beryl Gilroy review – bigotry in the classroom
First published in 1976, this memoir by one of Britain’s first black headteachers is a vital story of survival doused in fury, humour and love
The Guardian view on English language and literature: more, please
Editorial: We must take care not to devalue a subject that helps us build a more rounded and healthier body politic
Novelists issue plea to save English degrees as demand slumps
Authors blame government ‘prejudice’ against humanities, as loss of applicants hits university courses