Eve Gerber

Play is a vital learning experience. But not all play is equal. Some helps children develop their imagination and learn cooperative behaviour. Some doesn’t. The Yale psychologist explains all

What divides a hit from a flop, artistically speaking? The New York Times theatre critic takes us behind the scenes to assess the art of writing for Broadway and the rules for avoiding musical disaster

Pictures operate in space, words in time, and the best stories are told with both, says the acclaimed American author and cartoonist, Ben Katchor. He tells us how visual narratives are making a deserved comeback.

When war comes, women pick up the pieces, providing for families and taking up jobs previously done by men. Increasingly, women are to be found on the frontlines of combat too, as the author and journalist explains

‘People learn how to read critically and think critically, but I don’t believe we learn how to see critically.’

The author of Bright Lights, Big City, Jay McInerney, tells us what changed after 9/11 and which books best capture the ambition, romance and creativity of New York. He chooses his list of  “essential New York novels”

Amy Waldman reported on the aftermath of 9/11 for the New York Times, but when it came to writing a book about it, she wrote a novel. The Submission was hailed as one of the best novels to come out of the tragedy, including by the Financial Times. Here, she chooses some of the best literature inspired by 9/11, including novels, a memoir and a book of poetry.  

The neoconservative view that the US has a special mission in the world was supercharged by 9/11. There was also a sense that 9/11 could make America better. Sadly it didn’t work out that way, says Peter Beinart

The distinguished literary critic Harold Bloom discusses the five works of literary scholarship that have most influenced him.

The South African novelist gives us an unvarnished view of the writer’s life, and explains how literature told the story of apartheid and why comedy is the easiest way to talk about race