Margaret Atwood ballet MaddAddam to be staged by Wayne McGregor

Royal Ballet reveals adaptation of Atwood’s trilogy of dystopian novels Oryx and Crake, The Year of the Flood and MaddAddam

Martin Amis to publish novel inspired by death of Christopher Hitchens

An autobiographical novel, Inside Story, will chronicle the writer’s romantic affairs, the death of Hitchens – his closest friend – and the 9/11 attacks

The State of Secrecy by Richard Norton-Taylor review – spooks in the spotlight

In a penetrating and entertaining memoir, the Guardian’s former intelligence reporter exposes the folly of excessive state secrecy

Stop telling authors what they can write. The only limit is imagination

Jeanine Cummins did not cross the cultural line: she was doing her job as an author

Charles Dickens ‘treasure trove’ goes to London museum

Note to butler on how to serve gin punch is among letters acquired from US collector

Inventory by Darran Anderson review – a childhood in Derry

A troubled Northern Ireland childhood recounted in objects – floppy disk, cassette, toy soldier

Michael Rosen condemns UK education system’s ‘fear of laughter’

Announcing the winners of this years Laugh Out Loud awards for the funniest children’s books, Rosen took aim at the ‘oppressive’ solemnity of today’s schools

Britain hit by serious case of the Brexit blues as wellbeing tumbles

It is seldom good news for governing parties when people start to feel gloomy

House of Commons criticises John Bercow book for naming staff

Identification of people in ex-Speaker’s autobiography condemned as ‘unacceptable’

George Steiner, influential culture critic, dies aged 90

The multilingual scholar was renowned for broadening English readers’ horizons and for his passionate moral engagement

Rare Charlotte Brontë ‘little book’ to go on show at Haworth

Miniature book written by author as a teenager returned to UK after fundraising appeal

Costa prize: Jack Fairweather wins book of the year with The Volunteer

Biography of Witold Pilecki, a Polish resistance fighter who infiltrated Auschwitz, hailed as extraordinary

Philip Pullman calls for boycott of Brexit 50p coin over ‘missing’ Oxford comma

Critics fume over the omission of Oxford comma from phrase ‘Peace, prosperity and friendship’ as new coin enters circulation

If a novel was good, would you care if it was created by artificial intelligence?

The first computer-generated screenplays are promised within five years. Fiction can’t be far behind, says Guardian books writer Richard Lea

Forbidden territory: the best books about land and power

As the government plans further limits on our freedom to roam, Guy Shrubsole chooses books to explore how wealth and inequality have shaped our world