Writers

Ngugi Wa Thiong'o reads a play at the University of Hawaii. 

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o’s famously banned play returns to Kenya

“I Will Marry When I Want,” the once-banned play, is finally getting its national debut after more than 30 years.

American poet Amanda Gorman reads a poem during the 59th Presidential Inauguration at the US Capitol in Washington, Jan. 20, 2021.

‘Even as we grieved, we grew’: Poet Amanda Gorman gives powerful performance at inauguration

Biden administration
A red brick house next to a tree with Christmas lights

Happy Birthday, Jane Austen! 245 years on, devotees celebrate with virtual tours of the writer’s home

Arts, Culture & Media
A page from "The Structure is Rotten, Comrade."

This surrealist graphic novel delves into architecture and social change

Arts, Culture & Media
Portrait of the late Binyavanga Wainaina in shiny purple suit with white shirt

The world mourns Binyavanga Wainaina: Kenyan literary legend, visionary and LGBTQ activist

Obituary
Frederic Tuten

Frederic Tuten’s young life

Arts, Culture & Media

The modernist writer talks craft, courting Diane Keaton and his biggest regrets

A woman looks back over a river with a building behind her.

Readers mourn author Andrea Levy who pushed for a more ‘inclusive’ version of Britain’s history

Arts, Culture & Media

Andrea Levy’s books explored the lives of the Windrush generation — nearly half million people who moved from the Caribbean to Britain to fill labor shortages after WWII.

Clock Watchers

Arts, Culture & Media

Many writers, musicians, and artists got their start in the office — the British novelist Anthony Trollope worked for the postal service and composer Charles Ives was a full-time insurance agent. Judith Kampfner looked into the workaday lives of artists to find out how it fuels their creativity outside the office.

Chicken Wilson competing in Peru's "Lucha Libro" - writing a story story in five minutes.

Peru makes book writing into a spectator sport and invites aspiring writers into combat

Arts, Culture & Media

In Peru, where it’s hard to get a book contract, young writers put on wrestling masks and duke it out in the ring. But instead of wrestling, they’re writing short stories, in front of an audience – on a clock.