Britain has always relished the idea of a national emergency. Will that change now?

Since the second world war, we’ve overloaded on dystopian fantasies, says Guardian columnist Andy Beckett

Lockdown: Simon Armitage writes poem about coronavirus outbreak

Poet laureate says society may emerge from the pandemic ‘slightly slower, and wiser, at the other end’

‘This is a scary time’: coronavirus emergency fund set up for authors

Author Philip Pullman said the grants of up to £2,000 designed to meet urgent need ‘will be enormously reassuring’

‘Downton for kids’: BBC brings forward Malory Towers adaptation

Enid Blyton’s girls’ boarding school adventure provides tales of hope in times of crisis

Hay literature festival cancelled due to coronavirus, putting future in jeopardy

Organisers call on public to donate to emergency fund to shore up future of UK’s ‘Town of Books’

Around the world from your sofa: British Library to put rare globes online

Examples include 1679 pocket globe and 1730 terrestrial globe showing California as an island

The Guardian view on poetry for dark times: add Wordsworth to the stockpile

Editorial: A new exhibition traces the influence of the great Romantic’s childhood on his verse. Rereading it can give us inspiration in these testing times

Delivery by skateboard? Coronavirus sees indie booksellers get inventive

As customers self-isolate, independent bookshops are set to take a hit – but many are offering storytime streams, discounts and even phone calls for the lonely

Wordsworth exhibition explores true nature of William and Dorothy’s bond

Show at National Trust’s Wordsworth House and Garden in Cumbria to mark 250th anniversary of poet’s birth

Never read Middlemarch or listened to Wagner’s Ring cycle? Now’s your chance

Observer critics suggest ways to while away the long days of self-isolation during the coronavirus crisis• Coronavirus – latest updates• See all our coronavirus coverage

Narnia to Wonderland: Oxford’s Story Museum brings kids’ books to life

Revamped Oxford attractions aims to awaken children in a district once ranked bottom for reading to the joy of storytelling

Government will abolish the 20% ‘reading tax’

Rishi Sunak confirmed ebooks and online newspapers will no longer be subjected to sales tax

The Mirror and the Light shines with huge first-week sales

Hilary Mantel’s conclusion to her Thomas Cromwell trilogy sold more than 95,000 copies in three days

Library closures are ‘violent and vile’, says Edmund de Waal

Artist criticises ‘heartbreaking’ loss of libraries as he opens installation at British Museum

Glastonbury and Hay festival organisers press on despite coronavirus fears

Most UK events, theatres and museums yet to be affected by outbreak