‘My blackness seemed curious, difficult to handle’: the day I ran away from Oxford University
As one of only 21 black students in my year, out of 3,000, I knew I’d be in a minority; I didn’t expect to be a curiosity. Could I find my place?
Philip Pullman attacks ‘monstrous’ English education policy
The His Dark Materials novelist says current ‘fetish’ for exams is unnecessary and could ruin children’s lives
Meic Stephens obituary
Literary editor, arts administrator, translator and poet who promoted Welsh cultural causes
South Carolina police object to high-school reading list
Union says depictions of brutality in The Hate U Give and All American Boys promote distrust of police and ‘we’ve got to put a stop to that’
John James obituary
Other lives: Poet and teacher of literature and film
Posh Boys by Robert Verkaik review – how public schools ruin Britain
A trenchant j’accuse against the old-boy chumocracy and the ‘apartheid education system’ that perpetuates social inequality in the UK
Miriam Griffin obituary
Oxford classical scholar and expert on Seneca who offered new insights into the torrid world of Roman imperial politics
Carnegie medal winner slams children’s book publishers for ‘accessible’ prose
Geraldine McCaughrean, accepting award for Where the World Ends, warned that restricting the language children read risks creating a future underclass who are ‘easy to manipulate’
Experts condemn ‘folly’ of pilot scheme using pupils to staff school libraries
Parents, literacy experts, trade unions, teachers and librarians have spoken out against initiative being trialled by the Scottish Borders council
Elizabeth Wallis obituary
Other lives: Founder member of the Society of Indexers
What have the royals ever done for the arts?
From the RSC to the ROH, Britain’s most prestigious arts institutions are all by royal appointment. But as Prince Harry marries Meghan Markle, is it goodbye Royal Variety Show and hello Royal Reprezent FM?
The Ancient Brit with Bags of Grit? How anglicised Asterix came to UK
Exhibition reveals early translations of Asterix the Gaul and highlights Jewish heritage of writer René Goscinny
Quiz: can you guess the city from the literary quote?
Which city did Margaret Atwood describe as ‘New York without the garbage and muggings’? Which writer called one London area ‘ungentrified, ungentrifiable’? Pit your wits against our quiz
JS Mill scribbles reveal he was far from a chilly Victorian intellectual
Project to digitise and publish his marginalia online will allow scholars to see his cutting remarks on Ralph Waldo Emerson
The Language of Kindness by Christie Watson review – what it means to be a nurse
Nurses are often underappreciated. There are laughter and tears in this remarkable account that immerses the reader in their world