Chang’an review – animated Chinese tale of poet-warriors is spectacular work of art
The historic capital of China is rendered in gloriously intricate detail, but this animated feature feels like a state-sponsored history lesson
Poem of the week: River Babble by Eugene Lee-Hamilton
A disabled poet laments the freedom he has lost in physical life but celebrates the liberty he retains in poetic imagination
Poem of the week: That by Rebecca Watts
Repetition mounts to unnerving auditory effect as a trapped fly makes a life-or-death bid to escape
Andrew McMillan: ‘As an atheist, the poetry of Mary Oliver is the closest I come to prayer’
The poet on his early love of horror and the transformative power of Thom Gunn
I was an evangelical Christian for 35 years – until my transgressive big sister gave me the courage to break free
My sister Dorothy Porter was a bohemian gay poet; I was a respectable church handmaiden. But she cracked the door open for me to start seeing the world differently
Measures of Weather by JR Carpenter review – deft verse that offers a guiding light
The British Canadian poet’s new collection invokes the elements as it interrogates imperialism, patriarchy and climate emergency
Poem of the week: Are they shadows … by Samuel Daniel
A beguiling look at the fleeting pleasures of theatre, and the fleetingness of pleasure itself
Gwen Watkins obituary
Codebreaker at Bletchley Park during the second world war who went on to become a successful author
What we’re reading: writers and readers on the books they enjoyed in January
Authors and Guardian readers discuss the titles they have read over the last month
Poem of the week: Four rispetti from Tuscan Olives by Agnes Mary Frances Robinson
The changing colours of the fruit provide rich images of ripening and bruising love
Dave Crook obituary
Other lives: Bookseller, writer and editor of the cultural magazine Out of the Circle
The best recent poetry – review roundup
Modern Poetry and Frank: Sonnets by Diane Seuss; That Broke Into Shining Crystals by Richard Scott; My Secret Life by Krisztina Tóth; The Grimoire of Grimalkin by Sascha Aurora Akhtar; Flood by Jessica Mookherjee
The Long Wave: Poet Caleb Femi’s tender ode to Black nightlife in London
The British Nigerian writer’s beautiful new collection captures the spirit and importance of house parties. Plus, remembering Toni Morrison’s oeuvre
Poem of the week: there’s a bird … by Billy Mills
Small details of nature in a garden expand into an anxious global picture
Winter wonder: Jeanette Winterson and others reveal why the cold has them under its spell
Too dark, too cold – winter’s charms aren’t as obvious as summer’s brassy joys. But for Robert Macfarlane, Alice Oswald, Poppy Okotcha and others, this is a rich season. Here, they offer ways to lean into it, with an introduction by Jeanette Winterson