Culture news 'My Brilliant Friend': Why it is the best book of the 21st century The Neapolitan novel "My Brilliant Friend" by Elena Ferrante has topped several best-seller lists, even being described as the 'greatest' book of the 21st century. While the secrets of its success seem clear but the author's identity remains shrouded in mystery... 30/07/2024
Culture news Rebecca Yarros among winners of the second annual BookTok awards The second annual TikTok Book Awards UK and Irelend saw the social media platform’s users vote for their favourite authors, books, and bookshops over the past year. 26/07/2024
Culture news Salman Rushdie's alleged assailant denied author's notes before trial Hadi Matar, the man charged with attacking celebrated author Salman Rushdie, will not be given access to the author's notes before trial, with the judge ruling the request too burdensome. Matar’s trial has be sheduled for October. 19/07/2024
Culture news World-renowned Albanian novelist Ismail Kadare dies aged 88 The Albanian literary giant was best known for works including "Broken April" and "The General of the Dead Army", chronicling life under communist dictator Enver Hoxha by way of allegorical stories. 01/07/2024
Culture news Boris Johnson memoir teased: Why is it already being mocked? Publishing house HarperCollins is to “unleash” former UK PM Boris Johnson’s memoir later this year. And the promotional image looks like a teaser for a (particularly naff) horror film... 21/06/2024
Culture news Rare first edition Harry Potter book sells for more than €53,000 J.K. Rowling's book features some unique errors and was sold at auction alongside a copy of "Casino Royale", the first novel in the James Bond spy series, which features an inscription by author Ian Fleming. 20/06/2024
Culture news Kazuko Shiraishi, ‘the Allen Ginsberg of Japan’, dies aged 93 Japan's beat poet Kazuko Shiraishi, a pioneer of modern performance poetry, dies at 93. 19/06/2024
Culture news Naomi Klein and V. V. Ganeshananthan win Women's Prize literary awards Klein thanked the prize for “not shying away from controversy” and continues to back calls for book festivals to stop taking money from companies with investments in fossil fuels or Israel’s defense sector. 14/06/2024
Culture news What is Ireland’s YES Festival? Ireland’s first all-female festival takes place at various locations across the north west for the next four days. The YES Festival will feature over 40 events and more than 30 female artists from the nations involved in the ULYSSES European Odyssey project. 13/06/2024
Culture news Edinburgh Fringe CEO defends Baillie Gifford sponsorship What is Baillie Gifford and why are festivals being pressured to drop their sponsorship this summer? 12/06/2024
Culture news Donald Trump asks in new book: Is Taylor Swift ‘legitimately liberal'? In an upcoming book which hits shelves later this month, Trump comments on Taylor Swift's appearance and questions her political beliefs. This comes at a time when President Biden’s campaign is actively seeking an endorsement from Swift. 11/06/2024
Culture news Homage in Huesca: Spanish city pays tribute to George Orwell George Orwell never fulfilled his wish to visit Huesca when he fought in the Spanish Civil War but nearly 90-years on, his son Richard Blair has made the trip to unveil a statue in honour of his famous father. 10/06/2024
Culture news Culture Re-View: Looking back on the cultural impact of '1984' On this day 75 years ago George Orwell's dystopian classic‘Nineteen Eighty-Four’ was published. Many aspects of the English writer and journalist's foreboding tale have passed into everyday language and the book's central message still bears chilling relevance. 08/06/2024
Culture news The 10 Mr. Men and Little Miss characters with the worst vibes As two more characters are added to the Mr. Men and Little Miss series, we look at which characters deserve to be thrown into space. 08/06/2024
Culture news Mysterious manuscript of Albert Camus' ‘L'Étranger’ to be auctioned The complete (and mysterious) manuscript of Albert Camus' famous novel is to be auctioned and is estimated at between €500,000 and €800,000. 05/06/2024
World News 'It's hard to fight our own dictatorship and a foreign dictatorship' Where is the "Kashcheyeva's Needle" of Lukashenko's regime? Will Europe slip into a "yard fight" with "mafiosi" in Minsk and Moscow? Writer, activist and political emigrant Sasha Filipenko tells Euronews about his hopes and fears for Belarus 01/06/2024
Culture news J.K. Rowling says loved ones begged her to keep trans views private J.K. Rowling appears in an essay collection featuring contributions from so-called 'gender critical' writers, in which she shares that her loved ones had pleaded with her to keep her polarising views on transgender women to herself. She also hits out at her hypocritical critics. 30/05/2024
Culture news Inside an old Madrid bank vault full of literary treasures In the depths of the Caryatid Building in Madrid is a vault containing some of the greatest treasures of Spanish literature. 28/05/2024
Design Spanish design duo reveal secrets of award-winning architecture If the couple's mission was to make reading relevant again then this is a total triumph. A long queue of people regularly wait to get inside the Barcelona library, in scenes more reminiscent of a concert than a reading room in a quiet area of the city. 28/05/2024
Culture news Romanian poet Ana Blandiana wins 2024 Princess of Asturias Award In selecting her as the winner the Asturias jury highlighted Ana Blandiana's "indomitable poetry" with which she has shown an "extraordinary capacity for resistance in the face of censorship." 23/05/2024