The top 10 allegories in fiction, from Plato to Kafka
Authors from Jonathan Swift to NoViolet Bulawayo show how much can be done with what might sound a narrow form – and how much fun can be had with it
May 2023
We Need New Names review – playful staging of NoViolet Bulawayo’s novel
Director Monique Touko keeps the tone lively with this tough story of Mugabe’s Zimbabwe in which the actors switch race, age and gender with ease
January 2023
NoViolet Bulawayo and Margo Jefferson join ‘exciting’ Rathbones Folio prize shortlist
The newly formatted prize will, for the first time, name winners in fiction, nonfiction and poetry and the shortlist includes writers from across the world
October 2022
‘The story had been stirring in me for most of my life’: How I wrote a Booker-shortlisted novel
The Booker prize 2022: watch shortlist readings by Jarvis Cocker, Sharon Horgan and more
September 2022
Booker prize: Alan Garner becomes oldest author to be shortlisted
‘I’ve no idea how we’ll pick a winner’: the challenge of a spectacular Booker shortlist
July 2022
Booker prize longlist of 13 writers aged 20 to 87 announced
List comprises 13 writers of fiction, from NoViolet Bulawayo to Leila Mottley, described as ‘stimulating, surprising, nourishing’ by judging panel
March 2022
Book of the day
Glory by NoViolet Bulawayo review – a Zimbabwean Animal Farm
NoViolet Bulawayo: ‘I’m encouraged by this new generation that wants better’
July 2017
Top 10s
Top 10 opening scenes in books
From Kazuo Ishiguro’s laconic intimations to Mark Twain’s garrulous energy, these are masterclasses in the difficult art of beginning
July 2015
Guardian Africa network
Sci-fi, creative writing and wizards – Africa's best authors discuss modern literature
What is ‘African literature’? How easy is it to become an author on the continent? What we learned from this year’s Caine prize shortlist
May 2015
Reading American cities
Reading American cities: books about Detroit
Books blog
The Guardian first book award: 16 years of talent-spotting
July 2014
The week in books
Man Booker prize 2014: why the longlist has bewildered the bookies
With its lack of big names and its potential contenders that have yet to be published, this year's lineup has elicited wildly divergent predictions, writes John Dugdale
April 2014
Guardian Africa network
Caine Prize shortlist showcases 'golden age' for the African short story
Finalists for the prestigious award for African writing in English hailed for stories 'as diverse as they are entertaining'
December 2013
Guardian Africa network
Best African fiction of 2013
Stuck for gifts or holiday reading? Here's some of the best books from Africa in the past year – including big hitters and new faces
November 2013
The Observer's books of the year
Writers, Observer critics and others tell us their favourite reads of 2013 – and what they hope to find under the tree
We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo
Guardian First Book award shortlistee NoViolet Bulawayo introduces an extract from her novel We Need New Names and explains what inspired her to write it
Guardian first book award 2013: the shortlist
Fiction-rich list showcases 'vibrant, original new talents' of five writers who are in contention for £10,000 prize
