Anthony Horowitz: writers should not be told to make books more diverse
Children’s author tells Hay festival he is aware of need to be inclusive but it should not be imposed
April 2024
Swearing, snogging and spying: Cherub’s cool teenage secret agents hit 20
Robert Muchamore’s series of novels about young undercover intelligence operatives with troubled lives shook up the sanitised world of early noughties YA literature
January 2024
Tom Parker Bowles picked for mini library project championed by his mum
Tom Parker Bowles among 21 writers providing snapshot of contemporary literature in initiative supported by the queen
February 2023
The shifting patterns of English
May I have a word about… trigger warnings
Jonathan Bouquet
Sensitivity in language is all well and good but, as novelist Anthony Horowitz found, it can be stifling
June 2022
With a Mind to Kill by Anthony Horowitz review – 007 in a polished page-turner
Bond is headhunted by Smersh in a plot to eliminate the moderate Khrushchev in this rollicking Russian spy story
May 2022
Anthony Horowitz: I’m still waiting to see benefit of Brexit
Author who has previously called himself a Conservative tells Hay festival he ‘can’t understand’ the government’s actions
December 2021
Top 10s
Top 10 cosy crime novels
From Agatha Christie to Richard Osman, these books are not without seriousness but they are all set in warm and human worlds we might prefer to our own
June 2020
Observer TV reviews
The week in TV: Philharmonia; Alex Rider, Cardinal; The Other One – reviews
A trio of crime dramas from France, the UK and Canada, with a warm and wise sitcom for dessert
April 2020
Reasons to be cheerful: poetry and stories to give hope to adults and children alike
Children’s author Katherine Rundell introduces original poems, stories and illustrations by the likes of Michael Morpurgo, Jacqueline Wilson and Axel Scheffler
March 2020
Book clinic
Book clinic: Which thrillers and crime fiction will keep my teenager hooked?
From Agatha Christie to Anthony Horowitz, writer Peter Swanson recommends the best of classic and modern
April 2019
Free short story vending machines delight commuters
New ‘short story stations’ in Canary Wharf print one- three- and five-minute reads on demand
The Guardian view on fiction vending machines: attention seekers
Editorial: If they succeed in distracting commuters from their smartphones, short story dispensers will be a welcome addition to the landscape
Short story vending machines to transport London commuters
The machines, made by French company Short Édition, will dispense free one, three and five-minute stories … with the first penned by Anthony Horowitz
May 2018
Book of the day
Forever and a Day by Anthony Horowitz review – a prequel to Casino Royale
We meet again Mr Bond … but this time 007 is still learning the ropes of spycraft, in this enjoyable spinoff authorised by the Fleming estate
February 2018
Licence renewed: Anthony Horowitz to write official James Bond prequel
Forever and a Day, the author’s second 007 novel, will make use of material left behind by Ian Fleming to imagine Bond’s first mission
December 2017
Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz review – fiendish whodunnit
Horowitz channels Agatha Christie, with a rustic English setting, a tricksy book-within-a-book, and red herrings aplenty
August 2017
Anthony Horowitz: 'People used to disagree. Now they send death threats'
He had a privileged upbringing but then his family lost everything. As he takes his biggest risk yet, the writer talks about surviving his childhood – and the storm he caused about writing black characters
May 2017
Anthony Horowitz's claim he was told not to write black characters sparks row
Other writers have reacted with scepticism to the Alex Rider author’s claim that he was discouraged from ‘artificial and possibly patronising’ writing
Anthony Horowitz: I was warned off including black character
Author of Alex Rider novels was disturbed to be advised against creating a black character because he was white
Joanna Lumley: Idris Elba should not play James Bond as he doesn't fit description
Absolutely Fabulous star says casting should be ‘colour-blind’ but that Elba does not correspond to Ian Fleming’s description of the character
