Literature
Reading the lockdown diary: writers on how Covid-19 has changed their lives
A new anthology collects lockdown diaries from writers all over the world—and shows the small benefits of recording things down in real time
What we get wrong about Machiavelli
The Renaissance thinker wasn't as diabolical—or as original—as we often assume
The pleasures of cat-watching under lockdown
What must this domestic landscape of sofas, unworn shoes and constantly present laps look like to our feline friends?
What 20 years of teaching creative writing have taught me about confined living
Or: Wednesdays, at a writers’ retreat
The philosophy of George Eliot
She is one of England’s greatest novelists, but the author of Middlemarch also deserves to be remembered as one of the country’s finest philosophers
Unreliable comrades: writers and the Cold War
Writers—both communist and anti-communist—rarely toed the party line
Alasdair Gray is steeped into Glasgow
The writer and artist, who has died aged 85, won't just be remembered for his murals and novels. His spirit permeates the city
Ben Lerner's "The Topeka School" sees violence everywhere
The celebrated novelist's latest takes on Trump, Clinton-era complacency, and what it means to be a man
Margaret Atwood on The Gift that keeps on giving
Should works of art be bought and sold like potatoes? Or are they, like the best presents, items on which no real price can be placed?
In the publishing world, Shakespearean biography is a well that never seems to run dry
Two new books on the master playwright offer a refreshing reconsideration of his work
Ann Patchett’s fairy-tale family drama has a darker side
Patchett handles her timeline with dexterity, but tests the reader's patience
John le Carré’s post-Cold War vision is shot through with a sense of longing
The historical era that defined the master writer may be long gone, but something deeply compelling remains in his work