Ruth Ozeki’s ‘complete joy’ of a novel wins Women’s prize for fiction
The Book of Form and Emptiness is praised by judges for its ‘sparkling writing, warmth, intelligence and poignancy’
Harry Potter publisher Bloomsbury reports record sales amid reading boom
People who turned to books during Covid lockdowns continuing to buy them, company says
Country diary: We rise and fall with the treecreepers outside
Yr Elenydd, Ceredigion: In a tiny chapel I sit among the devout, one eye on the window
Costa book awards scrapped suddenly after 50 years
Coffee company announces ‘difficult decision’ to end the prizes, sparking a chorus of disappointment across the books industry
Shakespeare First Folio copy estimated to fetch $2.5m in New York auction
Book printed 400 years ago is one of fewer than 20 copies in private hands
Murdering the competition: Richard Osman thriller tops UK library loans
Stats from 2020-21 reveal that the Pointless presenter’s The Thursday Murder Club is the biggest hit in UK libraries
Cressida Cowell renews call for £100m investment in primary school libraries
The outgoing children’s laureate has transformed six primary schools through her Life-changing Libraries initiative, but says a ringfenced fund is needed for lasting impact
Why are books on the English school curriculum still in the grip of straight, white men?
Children in diverse societies need a broader range to learn about themselves and the world, says author Jeffrey Boakye
Authors at Hay festival weigh the meaning of authenticity
Who can write about whom was a running question, tackled by writers from Rose Tremain to Damon Galgut
Racism in English education should be seen as safeguarding issue, says author
Jeffrey Boakye argues in new book that schools are unsafe places for students marginalised by race
Unfaithful, too striking… why William Morris’s wife was painted out of the Arts and Crafts movement
Jane Morris’s creative influence on her husband’s design empire has finally been revealed in a new book
The Queen in culture: how art puts a public face to a private life
She has appeared in plays, novels, paintings – even love songs. From Andy Warhol to Alan Bennett, artists, writers and musicians have changed our picture of the Queen we think we know
Bernardine Evaristo fears publishers may lose interest in black authors
Diversity in book industry must be sustained, and start at the top, Booker prize-winning author tells Hay festival
The Queen’s successors will not be able to create her ‘mystique’, says writer
Tina Brown, author of The Palace Papers, says monarch’s image stems from time before ‘great media age’
Elif Shafak: there’s a scream building up in young people
Author cites Brexit and the climate crisis as examples of previous generations ‘breaking’ their future