Planet of Clay by Samar Yazbek review – bold portrayal of besieged people
The young, mute narrator of this compassionate novel by the author of The Crossing becomes a poignant emblem of the Syrian women confined by war
On my radar: Shaun Keaveny’s cultural highlights
The 6 Music presenter on Schitt’s Creek, Douglas Stuart’s extraordinary Shuggie Bain and the canal-side pub he longs to visit
Claire-Louise Bennett: ‘If there was a revolution, I’d be there’
The award-winning author on Beckett, Marxism, and why she resists identifying herself as a writer
Take risks and tell the truth: how to write a great short story
Drawing on writers from Anton Chekhov to Kit de Waal, Donal Ryan explores the art of writing short fiction. Plus Chris Power on the best books for budding short story writers
Gold Diggers by Sanjena Sathian review – a magical debut
A novel about anxiety and ambition asks what it means to be both Indian and American
The best recent fantasy, horror and science fiction – review roundup
Hollow by B Catling; The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix; Girl One by Sara Flannery Murphy; A Master of Djinn by P Djèlí Clark; and Too Near the Dead by Helen Grant
Femi Fadugba: ‘There’s no reason why Peckham couldn’t be the theoretical physics capital of the world’
The physicist‑turned-YA novelist talks about choosing to set The Upper World in south London, and how it was snapped up by Daniel Kaluuya for Netflix. Plus read an extract
Sam Byers and Salena Godden shortlisted for the Gordon Burn prize
Six fiction and nonfiction titles are in the running for the £5,000 prize, awarded to a work of ‘dazzlingly bold and forward-thinking’ literature
Anuk Arudpragasam: ‘There’s a lot of laughter in my life, but not when I read’
The novelist, whose A Passage North has been longlisted for the Booker prize, on being inspired by Descartes and the influence of Robert Musil
The Luminous Novel by Mario Levrero review – an extraordinary autofictional diary
Mingling fact and fancy, this epic of digression and procrastination is wonderfully poignant
The Airways by Jennifer Mills review – deeply vivacious and arresting ghost story
Following her Miles Franklin-shortlisted Dyschronia, Jennifer Mills’s most recent novel revels in the ‘consciousness of the body’
The Angels of L19 by Jonathan Walker review – an ambitious, flawed experiment
A coming-of-age novel set in 1980s Liverpool explores repressed trauma and religious belief
Dolly Parton to publish her first novel in 2022
The country music superstar has teamed up with the novelist James Patterson to write Run, Rose, Run, which will be published in March
Top 10 bookworms in fiction
If you’re reading a novel, the chances are you’ll be able to relate to characters who love reading, too. These works showcase some of literature’s finest bibliophiles
Something New Under the Sun by Alexandra Kleeman review – Hollywood apocalypse
This sharply observed tale of planetary emergency digresses into unseen worlds, exploring human self-obsession and climate grief