Jack Kerouac play to receive world premiere

Beat Generation will debut at this year's Jack Kerouac Literary festival in Massachusetts, 55 years after it was written

Latitude 2012 lineup: Elbow, Paul Weller and Bon Iver to headline

Other performers at Suffolk festival include Bat for Lashes, classical pianist Lang Lang, and professor Brian Cox

Edinburgh book festival chief wants authors, not celebrities

Some literature festivals focus on stars first and books second, says Nick Barley, director of the Edinburgh international book festival

Lake District festival offers bursaries to attract a younger audience

Applicants aged between 17 and 24 can get ten free tickets for Words by the Water at Keswick, one of the main attractions of the Lake District visitors' year.

Damon Albarn reveals Blur recorded single to save Notting Hill carnival

Impromptu collaboration with poet Michael Horovitz was shelved when officials allowed London carnival to go ahead

Southbank’s Olympic event to showcase art, poems and pop-up proms

Tracey Emin and Thomas Hirschhorn among top artists to harness the spirit of the Games for a giant public festival in 2012

We Need to Talk About Kevin scoops top prize at London film festival

Lynne Ramsay's drama starring Tilda Swinton fights off opposition from a strong shortlist to win best film at ceremony

Miss Rusty’s reading cancelled after council row

Author and former teacher, Leonora Rustamova, withdrew from a reading after the local authority said they would read out a disclaimer at the event

Albert Nobbs – review

Glenn Close serves up a terrific performance as a gender-bending butler in Rodrigo García's intriguing ensemble piece, writes Catherine Shoard

Andrea Arnold finds new depths in Wuthering Heights

British director unveils grimy, frill-free version of Emily Brontë's 'dark and profound' classic at Venice film festival

Wuthering Heights – review

Andrea Arnold pummels this costume drama into a beautiful rough beast of a movie – even if Emily Brontë would struggle to recognise it, writes Xan Brooks

Colin Firth says film industry underestimates audiences’ intelligence

Colin Firth makes comments at Venice film festival premiere of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – a film which demands concentration

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy – review

Director Tomas Alfredson's marvellously chill adaptation of John Le Carré's cold war thriller features a delicate performance from Gary Oldman along with a first-rate supporting cast, writes Xan Brooks