Mark Haddon’s life-affirming brush with death: ‘The grim reaper is not all he’s made out to be’
The author on writing about his less-than-maternal mother, why he turned down an OBE and how a brush with death relieved him of anxiety
By Pat Carty
After all these years in Berlin, I’m back in Dublin as a tourist in my hometown
New poetry: Tom French reclaims calm, Susanna Galbraith offers a visually arresting debut
Elly Griffiths: ‘A magic trick is like a crime novel: lots of misdirection before the final reveal’
Ai Weiwei on western thought policing; plus, the overlap between writers and terrorists
May We Feed the King by Rebecca Perry: A macabre fable about appetite in all its guises
Celtic Magic: A Practitioner’s Guide by Brigid Ehrmantraut - Was the wicker man real, as Julius Caesar claimed?
Poem of the Week: The Sixty Second Poem
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POETRY
Made in America by Edward Stourton: Patchy illumination of ‘dark history’ of Trump’s rise
By Daniel Geary
Out of the Blue ... Pink: Pat Ingoldsby collection a beautiful monument to ‘pirate of poetry’
By Michael O’Loughlin
Swiftynomics: At times reading like a self-help book, it carries hefty political analysis
By Sinéad Gibney
Intimate Power: fiercely local, profoundly international biography of city of Liverpool
By Adam Wyeth
Irish Romanticism: A Literary History by Claire Connolly – A lively tradition that still has much to teach us
By Christina Morin
Esther is Now Following You by Tanya Sweeney: A joyride that’s challenging not to finish in one go
By Mei Chin
Next Year Will Be a Good One by Shivaun O’Casey: Life in the benevolent shadow of Seán O’Casey
By Ben Barnes
Crosswords & Puzzles
Crosswords & puzzles to keep you challenged and entertained
Common Ground
How does a post-Brexit world shape the identity and relationship of these islands
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