Poem of the week: Rocket in the Room by Oksana Maksymchuk
A child’s eye attempts to make sense of a military attack on a school – but fails to find any
‘Despite appearances, I finally realise I am not able-bodied’: novelist Daisy Lafarge on her hypermobility disorder
The writer was 31 when she was diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, an incurable genetic condition. She recalls the relief – and grief – of chronic health issues finally being given a name
On my radar: Daniel Handler, AKA Lemony Snicket, on his cultural highlights
The US children’s author and novelist on a sublime musical trio, how spices reinvigorated his cooking, an addictive ‘mid-19th century’ BBC panel show and being floored by a new jazz track
Near-Life Experience by Rowland Bagnall review – the time traveller’s life
The British poet’s second collection is an exacting examination of the past, the present and an uncertain future
Poem of the week: The Night Hunt by Thomas MacDonagh
Alert to the energies of small words and large dogs, this bounding tale by the republican revolutionary is free from ‘Irish shams’
Track Record by George the Poet review – Black artistry and home truths
The spoken word artist and podcaster’s hybrid of social history and rallying cry is heartfelt, if occasionally hectoring
On my radar: Andrew O’Hagan’s cultural highlights
The novelist on a comedic TikTok sensation, the importance of a good suit and his favourite educational app
The best recent poetry – review roundup
Come Here to This Gate by Rory Waterman; Are You There by Samantha Fain; Silver by Rowan Ricardo Phillips; All the Good Things You Deserve by Elaine Feeney; Poems 2016-2024 by JH Prynne
What by John Cooper Clarke review – sharp social commentary from the Bard of Salford
With subjects ranging from Elvis to bubble and squeak, the poet’s unmistakable delivery elevates his satirical verse to the realms of high art
Poem of the week: In the Springtime by Geoff Hattersley
A weary supermarket queue at the height of the pandemic is wryly observed by a speaker who is just as driven by scrappy appetites
Poem of the week: Ars Poetica, XI by Mary Jean Chan
A fresh spin on the sonnet, this subtle contemplation of art, love and language makes the poem into a home
Play aims to unravel mystery of poet Nan Shepherd’s masterwork
Production examines why Scottish poet’s The Living Mountain lay unpublished in a drawer for 30 years
Poem of the week: Sea Rose by HD
An austere song of praise to a flower that withstands the battering of nature is also an intense response to classical Greek literature
‘The anti-pet of bourgeois life’: why the world needs big cat energy
Whether by striking workers, poets or Pussy Riot, our feline friends have long been used as a symbol of resistance – radical by nature, they refuse to be tamed
Poet Jackie Kay: ‘I could have been brought up by Tories!’
The writer on being adopted as a baby by Scottish communists, facing racism in suburban Glasgow, and why her late parents are at the heart of her new collection