Mahmoud Darwish
Obituary: Poet, author and politician who helped to forge a Palestinian consciousness after the six-day war in 1967
I refuse to dismiss writers who inspired me, even if others do
Henry Porter: Today, it is almost impossible to capture what Alexander Solzhenitsyn meant
Words of warming
As the world hots up, so does the market for books about climate change. Tim Flannery looks at the latest works on the crisis and sizes up their solutions
Novel on prophet’s wife pulled for fear of backlash
The Jewel of the Medina was to have been released on August 12 by Ballantine Books
Scribe of the gulag
Anne Applebaum: It wasn't Solzhenitsyn's personality that forced people to question their values, but his words
The other Solzhenitsyn
William Harrison: Praise his critique of the Soviet system certainly, but remember that it was informed by a deeply reactionary pan-Slavism
Full frontal snogging and other stories
The movie Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging is based on a book many adolescent girls know by heart. Alice Wignall explores the power of teenage literary passions
Italy: Infernal row flares over Florence council’s plans to pardon Dante
Wine-growing aristocrat to boycott ceremony and city's highest honour on behalf of poet ancestor
Eaten up
Ed Pilkington talks to the soothsayer of agro-economics, Raj Patel, about what will happen when the food finally runs out
Ace reporter investigates the lost years of his life as a crack addict
New York Times reporter David Carr's forthcoming book is a searing study of his struggles with drug addiction. By Paul Harris
Revenge
Jonathan Freedland reports on the Jewish avengers who - having survived the death camps - tracked down and executed their tormentors
Media: Das Wikipedia – online resource goes into print
A published encyclopedia will list in a single volume the 50,000 most commonly searched terms on the German Wikipedia website over the past two years. By Jess Smee
Children’s author Richard Kidd drowns in Philippines waterfall
British children's author Richard Kidd has drowned in the Philippines, the Foreign Office said today
Madeleine police chief to launch ‘explosive’ book
Hastily written exposé to provide stormy final act for investigation into child's disappearance
China sex blogger reveals his identity
Blogger who wrote about his sexual exploits with Chinese women releases book