A job that changed me: I spent a year reading electrical meters – and rediscovered the joy of writing

I was bitten by dogs; I made friends with so many dogs. One time a horse appeared, tearing in my direction. All the while, the war with the creative part of myself continued

‘I needed to be in that strange, flat place’: how an Orkney garden healed a writer

After her sister died, Victoria Bennett left Cumbria for the remote Scottish archipelago, where she learned to go with the ebb and flow of life

I yearned to be a mother. Why did I feel nothing when my daughter was finally born?

I had presumed I would love her instantly – but a traumatic birth led to devastating numbness

The emotional security secret: how to get healthier, happier and have stronger relationships

Psychiatrist Amir Levine’s first book explored different types of attachment. In his follow-up, he explains how anyone can become more secure

Jane Caro: ‘I’ve been bullied by the wittiest men in Australia’

The writer and social commentator on privilege, anxiety and how we have let down public education

Gillian Anderson and Cara Delevingne to hit Cannes as auteur heavyweights dominate festival lineup

The 79th edition of the film festival will see work by Pedro Almodóvar, Hirokazu Kore-eda and László Nemes considered for the coveted Palme d’Or

I did not tell my sister that our other sister was dying. Silence was the right choice, yet murky and painful

In family estrangement, the mud and dirt gets everywhere, Kathryn Heyman writes. And it is very hard to undo what has been done

‘In 20 years most of the world could be racist dictatorships’: Ibram X Kendi on book bans and far-right fear-mongering

How have the rich and powerful convinced so many voters that the reason they are struggling is the poor and powerless? The American historian talks about the weaponising of divisiveness

We are living in a period of political anti-intellectualism. But in pop culture, clever is the new cool

At the very moment Trump’s rambling speeches and meme–fied inanity threaten to overwhelm us, fashion, music and film are moving in the opposite direction

Margareta Magnusson obituary

Artist and writer who found fame late in life when she popularised the concept of ‘death cleaning’

Jürgen Habermas obituary

Philosopher and social theorist who advocated a new direction for German thought after the horrors of Nazi rule

Readers reply: which are more like life, novels or films?

The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions considers what’s ‘realistic’ in what we read v what we watch …

‘I could barely think because it was so bad’: how pain changes us

After living with chronic pain, Darcey Steinke wanted to know how it affected others. Her memoir, This Is the Door, explores both isolation and freedom

‘Imagine, if everyone had a sex auntie’: Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah on tradition as a basis for pleasure

The author tells how chronicling the sex lives of African women led her to many examples of openness around the body grounded in love and care

Which are more like life, novels or films?

The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific and philosophical concepts