Literature

What is it about crime and universities? As the film of The Oxford Murders premieres, Matthew Reisz probes a world of professor-sleuths, philosophical riddles and the academics who are hooked on them

The author speaks of product placement, 'role model' Katie Price and feminism. Melanie Newman reports

Catherine Belsey writes on the futility of war

Simon Blackburn revels in a trawl through our rich and varied tradition of ad hominem attacks

Academics aren't trained for it and often can't cope with it, yet many find themselves counselling students at risk of emotional breakdown and even suicide. Esther Oxford talks to lecturers who have been affected

Christie Davies admires a playful look at the sly, carnal and punning humour of France

David-Antoine Williams on a poet's restless mind

V.S. Naipaul's keen, ruthless eye confirms that great writers make stern critics, says Radhakrishnan Nayar

Ziad Elmarsafy acquaints himself with the many and varied faces of a prolific literary genius

Kamilla Elliott devours many slices of a pie that has fascinated collectors and academics alike

Duncan Wu is beguiled as Tom Paulin coaxes hidden politics, pigswill and tears from well-known verse

Rónán McDonald lauds a fine British essayist

The humanities have traditionally been the core of a classical university education, equipping graduates both culturally and morally. Today, however, humanities academics are increasingly questioning their purpose, and striving to strike a balance between canonical reverence and contemporary relevance. Matthew Reisz reports

Birkbeck's Ian Conrich, the driving force behind New Zealand studies in the UK, fell in love with the country via its cinema.

English institutions record second year of growth but Welsh take a hit. Rebecca Attwood reports

As an honorary professor at Bangor, Philip Pullman is returning to the land of his childhood not so much to teach as to share, writes Tariq Tahir.

Roy Harris reflects on our attitude to an 'alien' language whose characteristics have so strongly influenced China's intellectual and pedagogic traditions.

Susan Bassnett admires a playfully serious paean to the joys of not curling up with a good book.

Fred Inglis on a fierce, foolish, joyous wishlist.

Defoe, Pope, Eliot, Bronte: Duncan Wu on the literary lights with a weakness for pseudonyms.

Simon Goldhill is stimulated by a spunky new take on Greek male relations.

Different Engines