Paul Durcan obituary

Irish poet whose work dealt with misogyny, cruelty and bigotry, but could also be caustically hilarious

Poem of the week: Selling Watermelons by Andrei Voznesensky, translated by Edwin Morgan

The Russian poet’s playful verse about a Moscow market stall explores ideas of abundance and freedom

I am writing this with a pencil – it could be an author’s last line of defence against AI

My habit is quaint, I know, and there are downsides – but for those who value literature, the focus will shift to this: how do we prove we didn’t use AI?

Tell us about a poem that reminds you of someone you’ve lost

We would like to hear about the poem that invokes memories of someone you loved and lost

‘He lived inside poetry’: Toby Jones and Helena Bonham Carter perform poems in memory of lost loved ones

Actors including Asa Butterfield, Stephen Mangan and Susan Wokoma share poems as part of ‘Celebration Day’, a new annual moment dedicated to commemorating family and friends

Nam Le wins book of the year at NSW Literary awards for ‘passionate and bold’ depiction of Vietnamese diaspora

Author of 36 Ways of Writing a Vietnamese Poem says of his work about war, family and racism: ‘I’ve basically been writing it my whole life’

Poem of the week: from Quatrains by Ralph Waldo Emerson

These epigrammatic verses compress the great essayist’s philosophy with a beauty that echoes Keats and might have pleased Wordsworth

My island of strangers: a poem

The prime minister warns that immigration could turn Britain into an ‘island of strangers’. Author and poet Michael Rosen responds

Life and work of Thomas Hardy to be performed at Stonehenge

Readings and performances will be staged at the ‘misfortune of ruins’ that long fascinated the writer

Poem of the week: Find Me by Shanta Acharya

Vignettes of devastation and tentative renewal animate these soulful scenes

Given up on reading? Elif Shafak on why we still need novels

Recent studies suggest we’ve fallen out of love with reading – but the more chaotic our times, the deeper is our need to slow down and read fiction

Channing Tatum and Pedro Pascal write poems for Canadian musician Mustafa’s book

Actors contribute to the poet and singer’s anthology exploring ceremony, loss and worship

Simon Armitage: ‘Our pace of life is unhelpful to nature, it’s burning it up’

Exclusive: Poet laureate says new book, inspired by wildlife at Cornish garden, is a plea for humans to slow down and reflect

Publisher behind hit bilingual poetry book on A470 turns to Welsh rivers

Arachne Press says Afonydd (Rivers) was inspired by success of A470: Poems for the Road/Cerddi’r Ffordd

Poem of the week: Vergissmeinnicht by Keith Douglas

A soldier comes face to face with another he has killed, aghast to recognise his dead opponent’s humanity