The Latest Breaking News from TS Eliot

Poet’s sixth collection explores the destruction of the natural world, with a perspective shaped by her upbringing in rural Canada

In 1927, at 38 years of age, the expatriated American poet T.S. Eliot was baptised and confirmed in the Anglo-Catholic tradition. The celebrated author of The Waste Land (1922) – that literary paragon of abject nihilism – had pivoted away from the liberal, philosophical underpinnings of his upbringing and education,…

From blackmail to burglary, the events of Spark’s life often uncannily echoed those of her novels – no wonder the author of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie believed she could predict the future

There are so many delights in this bite-sized biennale with a wild side – from glowing haystacks to hop-pickers on stilts and star turn the Museum of Roadside Magic

Music, matriarchs, and modernism are the themes of this month's book recommendations. This April, we're looking at the latest work from a one of Japan's most exciting writers, and one of the best musical memoirs of recent years.

The magical healing power of a masked costume ball hangs in the balance in this whimsical tale of transformation

Other lives: Headteacher who transformed the lives of his Hertfordshire comprehensive pupils with summer Shakespeare camps

The American writer won the prestigious prize for Fierce Elegy, a collection informed by the deaths of his family members. He explains why poetry is like friendship – and why he loves small words

Judges for the £25,00 award say the collection, informed by grief for his two brothers, ‘braves large questions’ with its lyric sequence