Overcoming writer’s block: three tips
Academics tend to use procrastination as an explanation for writer’s block, says Rowena Murray, but really, they are just avoiding asking for help
The primary school letter written in Lancashire that went around the world
An inspiring message from a headteacher to year 6 pupils was meant to be read by a just few dozen parents but touched the hearts of thousands. Then, inevitably, came the backlash
An education book that changed me: favourite reads revealed
Is there a particular education book that has excited or influenced you? Here are some recommendations. And now tell us yours ...
Shiny Appy Children
Natalia Kucirkova: Current research suggests that the interactivity that makes children’s apps and digital books so exciting may be disrupting traditional literacy development. But do storyapps offer important benefits?
Touchscreen technology is good for kids? Don’t believe the hype
Eliane Glaser: The National Literacy Trust’s headline-grabbing claim is little more than highly coordinated lobbying based on flimsy evidence
Was Shakespeare gay, and does it matter?
John Sutherland: Although not a new question, its re-emergence is germane to the interpretation of his plays, and not just a scholars’ spat
Neil Gaiman: Libraries are cultural ‘seed corn’
The author tells Toby Litt how these ‘safe spaces’ were vital to him as a child, and why their closure endangers our future
Scientists outshine arts students with experiments in creative writing
With no publication angst and a killer work ethic, science students easily match their peers in the humanities in the art of creative writing. It even makes them better scientists, says novelist and teacher Aifric Campbell
Dudley Knowles obituary
Other lives: Former professor of political philosophy at Glasgow University
Walter Redfern obituary
Other lives: Professor of French literature and prolific author whose books included volumes on Jean-Paul Sartre and on puns
Jacqueline Stedall obituary
Influential historian of mathematics who moved the subject towards a more inclusive world view
MI5 spied on leading British historians for decades, secret files reveal
Eric Hobsbawm and Christopher Hill had phones tapped, correspondence intercepted and friends and wives monitored
Frank Cottrell Boyce: excessive analysis of books puts kids off reading
Writer to use David Fickling lecture to argue that some teaching methods promoting literacy are polluting the reading experience
Nigel Walker obituary
Former director of the Institute of Criminology at Cambridge who pioneered the development of the subject in the UK
The top 10 modernisers in literature
From the architects who built the postwar world to the writers who predicted its horrors, John Grindrod selects the books that best evoke the postwar pioneering spirit