My belated thank you to Liz Lochhead
One day in the early 80s, the poet Liz Lochhead got a blank reception from a bunch of young students. David Barnett was one of them – and says she inspired him to be a writer
Children’s authors attack plans for phonics reading test
Authors led by former children's laureate Michael Rosen say plans pose threat to reading for pleasure in primary schools
Michael Stokes obituary
Scholar of ancient Greek literature and philosophy who changed our understanding of how Plato combined the two
‘From PhD to BBC’: are academic historians too hungry for fame?
Does a great piece of history writing have to address itself to one readership over another? John Gallagher argues that history can be both popular and academically rigorous
Southampton University library: the resource revolution will be digitised
The University of Southampton library has been digitising its resources to bring printed content to life online. Julian Ball explains how and why it's been done
Which books could teachers use to encourage reluctant readers?
From Spiderman comics to the classics, what was the book that fired your love for reading? Share your favourites in the comments below
Why Marxism is on the rise again
Capitalism is in crisis across the globe – but what on earth is the alternative? Well, what about the musings of a certain 19th-century German philosopher? Yes, Karl Marx is going mainstream – and goodness knows where it will end
Oxford University Press fined £1.9m over bribery by African subsidiary firms
Fine follows high court action brought by Serious Fraud Office over OUP subsidiaries based in Kenya and Tanzania
Cosmic professor
He has scripted major films and Coronation Street, won acclaim for his children's novels, and is now helping with the Olympics. For his next trick, he'll be the UK's first professor of reading. Martin Wainwright talks to Frank Cottrell Boyce
Academic publishing: The essential checklist for ebook authors
Ebooks can make an important contribution to knowledge but quality remains an issue for the academic community. Sophie Tergeist lists five ways to ensure your ebook is up to scratch
Poetry should be subversive
Simon Armitage: If Michael Gove's plan for English means reciting Tennyson in posh accents, it's nothing to celebrate
A plea to restore Kensal Rise library to us
Maggie Gee: Land was donated in 1900 with a proviso it be used for a library – the council's 2am raid is a shameful attempt to break the deal
BlackBerry cupcakes and Googling: new study of UK children’s language
OUP's 31m-word analysis of writing by British children finds influx of US words alongside influence of Potter and Pullman
Student feedback enriches my poetry
Gillian Clarke: Joe Simpson's twitter spat with students studying his book is at odds with my own highly rewarding email contact with GCSE pupils
Virginia Woolf’s play exposes the silly side of the Bloomsbury group
Aoife Monks: Performing Freshwater in the writer's former home revealed a different side to the serious intellectuals who frequented 46 Gordon Square