Literature

Duncan Wu on the art of biography

Battle of Ideas event asks whether ‘core academic values’ are still safe in the academy

We talk to the renowned crime author about the challenge of writing, professorial aspirations and how long it takes to finish The Times crossword

William Kolbrener on a study of the tales that centre on a place that is both a real Polish city and an imaginary realm

Once upon a time, authors pushed young readers to see the world very differently, says Shelley King

Seneca meets The Sopranos in a lively who, what, when, where and why of cursing, says Tom Palaima

Elizabeth Greene on a study focusing on the American artist’s use of verse in his work

Book of the week: Rachel Bowlby tracks the impact of a strange and foreign novel across languages and culture

A leading American medievalist has died

Thesis explores thumb-biting, ‘Spanish figs’ and other rude Elizabethan gestures

Gabriel Egan laments the narcissistic craving for others’ approval brought on, he says, by the use of social networking websites

Book of the week: Deborah Longworth meanders with female writer-walkers getting their measure of the metropolis

Seeking a deep conversation between Scripture and the Bard’s works is a fool’s errand, argues Peter J. Smith

Academics working in English studies consider what Brexit means for their discipline

Book of the week: Fred Inglis delights in a grafting of art, lore and literature that logs our lives with natural wonders

This study reminds us of the radicalism of bringing the quotidian into art, writes Shahidha Bari

Older applicants drive growth as exam pass rate falls

David Gewanter on a poet’s turning his telltale gaze to works of verse and makers of muddled readings and purveyors of ‘balonium’

Former education secretary under Thatcher considers how his new work on book burning relates to current debate on censorship

Kaarina Hollo on a study comparing medieval manuscripts with evidence on the ground to illuminate life in Iron Age Ireland

A study confronts the theme of mortality during the 400th anniversary of the Bard’s passing

University of Hertfordshire modules are marking how well classmates encourage each other to participate

Moyra Haslett on what the Irish diaspora in mid-18th-century London reveals about the life and politics of one literary figure

Six authors have been plucked from the crowd to discuss a topic few want to face, says Sunny Singh

New fiction explores the parallels between the 14th century and the environmental disaster that may lie ahead

Shelley King on a comprehensive tour of magical worlds

The idea of barriers to work being benefits leaves Robert Eaglestone wondering if he missed the joke

Robin Feuer Miller on a 19th-century Russian who was part of a line of thinkers from Francis Bacon to Charles Darwin

Holger Syme’s three-week live-tweet reading brings scathing response from author Sir Brian Vickers

Fresh perspectives on a 19th-century Tory leader can be gleaned from his fiction, finds A.W. Purdue

We are spellbound by an opus whose copies once gathered crumbs and scribbles, says Lisa Hopkins

Rachel Dickinson on a study that asks if 19^th-century lifestyle choices can help us solve 21^st-century problems

Book of the week: Reconstructing Dante’s life via the Divine Comedy is a complex but enlightening task, says Prue Shaw

Joanna Bourke on a memoir focusing on secrets, grief and desire following a life-changing accident

Robert Eaglestone admires the reasoning applied in the description of this moment as ‘postirony’

Matthew Reisz considers why we are still talking obsessively about the playwright 400 years after he shuffled off this mortal coil

Kate Macdonald on the publications that used humour to share the trauma of the First World War

University of Sydney assessments ask students to edit and write online encyclopedia entries

Book of the week: For the poet told to lay down her pen on becoming a wife, writing was freedom, finds Catherine Clinton

New book from University of Cambridge academic considers how Shakespeare became a powerful presence from Addis Ababa to Zanzibar

Following textual ‘clues’ sheds little new light on an ancient literary figure, says Barbara Graziosi

Eva Shan Chou on a study of how anglophone texts have come to overshadow many vernacular writings

Jem Bloomfield doesn’t recognise the picture of a higher education system that panders to female students and glories in marginalising their male peers

Leading novelists tell Matthew Reisz about life under the academic spotlight

Can academics’ prior experiences of employment help them with the day job? asks Matthew Reisz

A ‘radical’ and ‘prolific’ British Germanist has died.

Alison Baverstock, director of The KU Big Read, offers a dozen tips for anyone trying to engage a whole university community

Rachel Bowlby traces how a school of literary thought and its major figures hit the big time

King’s College London joins with National Archives to mark 400^th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death

An expert on postcolonial literature turned acclaimed memoirist has died

First anniversary of atrocity sees words of Enlightenment figures rekindled 

We talk to the poet-academic about the expanding UK presence in international poetry, the value of creative writing courses and the pain of reading online

The real-life versions of Philip Marlowe were more likely criminals than heroes, says Sharon Wheeler

A leading expert on Samuel Beckett and French 20th-century writing has died.

Settlers will study course on ‘life stories’ led by University of East London academic

I had assumed stories about campus political correctness might be overblown. But the experience of my friend is an example of how deeply it permeates universities

A search for shared motifs in folklore and Classics is impressively broad-ranging, says Barbara Graziosi

Writers rise to the challenge of creating fiction from black holes, dark matter and warped light

Duncan Wu on a study of marriage and motherhood

Book of the week: Brace yourself for unusual keepsakes in a study of our attachment to corpses, says Deborah Lutz