In 2003, Alice Martineau was on the brink of a successful pop career when she died, aged 30, of cystic fibrosis. Now her family have given permission for her inspiring life story to be fictionalised In November 2014, an email pinged into Luke Martineaus inbox from Cystic Fibrosis Trust helplines: 0300 373 1000 or 020 … Read more
A lecture explaining why using our imaginations, and providing for others to use theirs, is an obligation for all citizens Its important for people to tell you what side they are on and why, and whether they might be biased. A declaration of members interests, of a sort. So, I am going to be talking … Read more
In this excerpt from the book They Cannot Take the Sky, Benjamin talks about his years detained on Nauru, and his undying hopes for the future Benjamin was taken to Nauru in 2013 with his family. He told the first part of this story on Christmas Day 2014. He is still on Nauru. You just … Read more
Novelist and feminist has attracted criticism for her comments on trans women, but says hostility of backlash serves to close up debate Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the Nigerian novelist and feminist, has condemned a language orthodoxy on the political left after Half of a Yellow Sun plunged into a row about identity politics when she suggested … Read more
The libertarian satirist and journalist tries to get to grips with the US election but merely shows his laziness and foolish prejudices Its not just politicians who are getting older; satirists are, too. Near the end of this book PJ ORourke lets slip the startling revelation that he is just a few months younger than … Read more
This memoir of Samuel Clemenss time as a steamboat pilot provides insight into his most well-known characters, as well as the writer he would become When I was a boy, there was but one permanent ambition among my comrades in our village on the west bank of the Mississippi River. That was, to be a … Read more
Image: Lionsgate Films If you thought the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics was boring, just look at how pop culturally relevant they’ve become with their latest blog post. Although the latest Hunger Games movie came out months ago, the Bureau took its own data on employment (based on industries, occupation, employment numbers and geography) to … Read more
This revolutionary work written by Henry Jamess less famous brother brought a democratising impulse to the realm of religious belief The United States is a society, first described in Thomas Jeffersons revolutionary words in 1776, that constantly rewrites its narrative in law, philosophy, economics and belief, as well as through poetry, drama and fiction. In … Read more
When Margaret Esiri and Andrew Evanss mother died, they read her diary and unravelled a lifelong mystery In April 1939, Doreen Bates presented Bill Evans, the man she had been seeing for six years, with a sheet of paper. It listed, in two neat columns, the pros and cons of having a baby together. What … Read more
Six giants of American literature reveal how they are responding to a transformed society On the night of 8 November 2016, the United States, a mature republic of 241 summers, experienced a dreadful upset and fell into a condition that hovered between catatonia and hysteria. On college campuses, young women were throwing up. Others were … Read more