Shakespeare: the metaphorical terrorist
Michael Rosen: When US agents analyse the world's languages for their 'Metaphor Program', they may draw frightening conclusions
Gil Scott-Heron obituary
Poet, jazz musician and rap pioneer who used mordant lyrics to express his views on politics and culture
I long for the day when Amnesty is needed no more
Michael Morpurgo: Giving children a love of literature could help make Amnesty International redundant
Everyone’s talking about Ayn Rand
A film adaptation of Atlas Shrugged, a BBC documentary and the support of rightwing economists have put the philosopher-novelist back in the news
Red Cross and Vatican helped thousands of Nazis to escape
Research shows how travel documents ended up in hands of the likes of Adolf Eichmann, Josef Mengele and Klaus Barbie in the postwar chaos
Towel Day: a hoopy frood pays homage
Chally Kacelnik: The lovable silliness of Douglas Adams has an enduring appeal that will keep people looking for their towels for years to come
Like a rolling ode: academic conference weighs up Bob Dylan’s poetic licence
Seven Ages of Dylan event at Bristol University sees professors discuss whether musician should be considered a poet
Bafta TV special/Trevor McDonald: The anchor
Tom Lamont salutes his favourite newsreader who joins Anthony Hopkins, Melvyn Bragg and Judi Dench as a Bafta fellow
Egyptian novelist hails revolution as a ‘great human achievement’
The country's most celebrated writer, Alaa al-Aswany, was inspired by the Tahrir protesters, but fears a counter-revolution
Turkey’s turn to stand up for William Burroughs
Elif Shafak: A Turkish publisher is being indicted by the paternalistic state for translating a Burroughs book that 'lacks narrative unity'
The Origins of Political Order by Francis Fukuyama – review
Francis Fukuyama was once a favourite of the US right. His new book, however, is a historical survey showing why the anti-state instincts of the Tea Party movement are wrong, writes Will Hutton
Apocalypse now? Christian Rapture fiction and the end of the world
David Barnett: As a US broadcaster predicts Earth's imminent demise, this SF-influenced genre has long been warning us what to expect
Philip Roth is one of the great artists of the novel, warts and all
Jonathan Jones: Carmen Callil says he goes 'on and on about the same subject'. I call it a particular landscape of memory and imagination
Book World Prague was right to honour Saudi Arabia
Mohammed Hasan Alwan: My country may not be a bastion of free speech, but its writers need international support to continue to move things forward
In praise of… Abdo Khal
Editorial: Acclaimed author shines a light on life at the bottom of the heap in Saudi Arabia's often forgotten villages