I can see Odysseus lashed to the mast of this ship, struggling to resist the Sirens’ song The eerily beautiful wreck discovered in the Black Sea takes us right back to Homer’s Greece
Stephen King sells film rights for story to Welsh teenagers for $1 Horror writer lets Blaenau Gwent Film Academy make version of Stationary Bike
Jumpin’ jets, a woman! Call to update children’s books with female academics Dr Frankenstinker, Professor Branestawm … How can little girls become academics when all the role models are men?
Dear Damian Hinds, What’s so difficult about giving every child a library ticket? Yet another report has shown children who read for pleasure are at an advantage. Yet many children still don’t have books
Children’s authors welcome Ofsted’s move to lighten stress on testing Writers including Frank Cottrell Boyce and Piers Torday cheer announcement that the schools inspectorate will now reward a broader style of education
Can the language of the Vikings fight off the invasion of English? Icelandic has retained its literary vigour since the Sagas, but TV and tourism are a growing threat
Novel news: world’s biggest bookworms revealed in study Researchers reveal having more books at home when growing up, even if you don’t necessarily read more, improves educational outcomes
GCSE textbook condemned for racist Caribbean stereotypes Outcry over ‘sweeping generalisations’ in Hodder Education sociology book
Nicholas Faith obituary Journalist and scourge of the establishment who tempered his criticism when writing about the wine trade
George Parfitt obituary Other lives: Literary scholar, teacher and poet with a special interest in the 17th century
Nobel laureate urges Nigeria’s youth to stand for election and oust ‘old fogies’ Wole Soyinka bemoans attacks on girls’ education and calls on young people to mobilise politically in run-up to February poll
David Coates obituary Other lives: Political economist, author and liberal thinker who embraced the role of public intellectual
David Lowenthal obituary Scholar who established heritage studies as an academic discipline in its own right
The Coddling of the American Mind review – how elite US liberals have turned rightwards Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt’s book sets out to rescue students from ‘microaggressions’ and identity politics. But perhaps they merely resist change that might undermine them