Motherwell: A Girlhood by Deborah Orr review – a masterpiece of self-exploration
A searching memoir from the late Guardian journalist, which lays bare her upbringing and the evisceration of her Scottish industrial town
Jonathan Coe wins Costa prize for ‘perfect’ Brexit novel
Middle England’s EU referendum story secures the 2019 novel award and goes up against first fiction, poetry and biography for Costa book of the year
MC Beaton obituary
Crime fiction writer who created the detectives Hamish Macbeth and Agatha Raisin
What Miss Bennet did next: today’s writers put a fresh twist on Austen
Two centuries after the original novels, authors are still coming up with new scenarios for Jane’s characters – and for the writer herself
Obituary: Alexander Frater 1937-2020
Wise, witty companion for whom the journey was the key
Message from the Skies review – Edinburgh’s heritage illuminated
Charlotte Runcie and Irvine Welsh are among the writers exploring Scotland’s maritime history in these evocative installations
MC Beaton, multimillion-selling author of Agatha Raisin novels, dies aged 83
Scottish writer, who also created detective Hamish Macbeth, did not take kindly to her ‘cosy crime’ reputation
Arts Council boss vows more funding for those at early stages of career
Sir Nicholas Serota says east of England and libraries could also be priorities in 10-year plan
Alasdair Gray obituary
Artist in words and pictures whose novel Lanark sparked a creative flowering in his native Scotland
Alasdair Gray, influential Scottish writer and artist, dies aged 85
The writer, artist and passionate Scottish nationalist was hailed as a ‘renaissance man’ for novels including Lanark and Poor Things
From Milton to Pullman, the quest for truth is riddled with ambiguity
In dark times, works of literature have unique power to remind us of the complexity and contradictory nature of humans
Gender, race, climate and the New Nature Writing
New Nature Writing has become a publishing phenomenon, from Roger Deakin to Robert Macfarlane. Will diverse new voices help it adapt to the climate crisis?
The Observer Christmas puzzles special: bumper quiz of the year
Test your mettle against our writers’ questions on film, music, politics, theatre and more
This decade we’ve become obsessed with reading – and writing – about ourselves
It’s no longer just celebrities whose lives we want to read about it, says novelist Rebecca Watson
Twist in the tale: how Dickens found his Fagin in words of a crusading Scot
A PhD student has uncovered compelling evidence that parts of Oliver Twist were inspired by the work of a fellow Victorian writer