‘I don’t care’: text shows modern poetry began much earlier than believed

Academic finds that lines widely reproduced in the eastern Roman empire are ‘stressed’ in a way that laid the foundations for what we recognise as poetry

‘I was sliding towards the drop and couldn’t stop’ – the writer who fell from a mountain

It is every climber’s worst nightmare. In this extract from his thrilling book about the glorious – and treacherous – Cuillin Ridge on Skye, Simon Ingram recalls the day its wild peaks almost took his life

Hangovers and hang-ups: Matthew Bourne’s The Midnight Bell steps into 30s Soho

The choreographer’s new show brings together lonely souls from the London novels of Patrick Hamilton. Expect regret, fumbling and a hint of mystery

Wainwright prize for nature writing goes to James Rebanks for English Pastoral

Award comes during booming year for nature books, with sales over the last two months reaching £2.8m

Booksellers warn over Christmas supplies amid UK lorry driver shortage

Shops build up stocks early to offset bottlenecks as publishers warn Brexit and pandemic are delaying distribution

Fragments of medieval Merlin manuscript found in Bristol library reveal ‘chaster’ story

Parchment fragments discovered in bindings of much later volumes reveal ‘subtle but significant’ variations on Arthurian legend

‘Unreal’: Samaritans volunteer has life turned around by six-figure book deal

James Norbury’s self-published Big Panda and Tiny Dragon inspired by the lives of callers to helpline

Hilary Mantel contrasts Dominic Cummings with Thomas Cromwell

Author adds Cromwell wouldn’t have gone on holiday during a crisis, in apparent shot at Dominic Raab

Hilary Mantel: I am ashamed to live in nation that elected this government

Double Booker prize winner tells La Repubblica she may take Irish citizenship to feel European again

Kristen Stewart on Princess Diana: ‘The sad thing was she felt so isolated and lonely’

Stewart explains her admiration for Diana as Spencer premieres at Venice, while the film-makers behind Dune stress its contemporary relevance

Susanna Clarke’s Piranesi favourite to win Women’s prize for fiction

Bookmaker Coral makes Clarke’s second novel 5/2 favourite to take £30,000 award, followed by Brit Bennett’s The Vanishing Half

The Guardian view on Raymond Williams at 100

He would have been 100 this week, yet so much of Raymond Williams’s writing speaks directly to our politics

Miss Marple back on the case in stories by Naomi Alderman, Ruth Ware and more

Agatha Christie’s beloved sleuth to return in new authorised collection featuring contemporary writers including Dreda Say Mitchell, Kate Mosse and Val McDermid

Edinburgh festivals’ recovery could take a decade, says director

Book festival boss says next year will be a staging post in recovery that could take until 2030

A master of self-promotion: letters reveal how Philip Roth ‘hustled’ for prizes

Correspondence found in archives shows how ‘pushy’ novelist used ‘collusion, networking and back-scratching’ to win literary awards