Literature

Smithsonian under fire for abrupt cancellation of Asian American literary festival

The institution cited “unforeseen circumstances”, leaving angry participants with debt and many unanswered questions

Octavia Butler’s classic science-fiction novel Parable of the Sower sprouts artistic seedlings

The book, which was published 30 years ago, is inspiring performances and installations across the US

A brush withinterview

Etel Adnan's poetry and Hilma af Klint's hidden worlds: curator Rebecca Lamarche-Vadel on her greatest influences

Director of Lafayette Anticipations tells us about her favourite writers, what music and podcasts she's been listening to, and the cultural experience that changed the way she sees the world

Book Clubinterview

Old Master meets YBAs: James Cahill tells us all about his debut novel

The author explains why his new coming-of-age novel is set against the backdrop of the 1990s art world and what drew him to the paintings of the titular Tiepolo

British Journal of Photography magazine saved from brink of collapse

An investor has bought the 168-year-old publication for a fraction of its claimed value

'If you are of the camp that wants to keep the art world an exclusive club, then look away now'

Silos are tight in the arts, but here's how musicians, artists and writers and can work together to bring in new audiences

Ancient ABCs: The alphabet’s ‘missing link’ discovered in Israel

Ink writing found on pottery sherds suggests the system spread into the Levant earlier than originally thought

Lawrence Ferlinghetti, poet, painter, and founder of San Francisco’s City Lights bookstore, has died, aged 101

Throughout his life, he continued to paint and write books, showing his literature-infused art in New York just last year

With powerful poem, Amanda Gorman sets the tone for Biden’s presidency

The 22-year-old Los Angeles poet was the youngest ever to deliver a recitation on Inauguration Day. Listen to and read her words here

Quest begins to buy £4m house where Tolkien wrote The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit

Campaign, which hopes to turn the Oxford home into a literary centre, has been backed by actors from the film adaptation Ian McKellen and Martin Freeman

Exhibitionsinterview

'I learned a lot from Goya': an interview with the poet and artist Lawrence Ferlinghetti

The influential 101-year-old founder of San Francisco’s City Lights Bookstore discusses his paintings and drawings, now on view in New York

Portrait commissioned by Charles Dickens, unseen for a century, goes on sale at Sotheby's London

The artist William Powell Frith 'almost collapsed' at the honour of being commissioned by the famous writer to paint his heroine Kate Nickleby

From blasphemer to bookworm: Paris show reframes Francis Bacon's later works

Exhibition at the Centre Pompidou focuses on the artist’s post-pope period, which has received less critical examination

Booksreview

The scientific brotherhood: Pre-Raphaelite art put under the microscope

The Victorian artist group explored the connections between art and scientific observation to enhance art’s moral purpose

Booksarchive

Thomas Kabdebo's "Tracking Giorgione" reviewed

The author is hindered by his own technique