Silk and the city

It’s whispering down the catwalk at Somerset House for London Fashion Week. It’s caressed by every tourist nipping into Liberty’s for an iconic paisley scarf. …

Sport stories

If you were searching for a pastime that was the opposite of reading, you might well hit on sport. Burying your nose in a book …

In Residence: Beowulf

This season, the British Library is all about the manuscripts. The gorgeous artworks in ‘Royal Manuscripts: The Genius of Illumination’ – its big winter exhibition …

Future Folk

It was an unlikely pairing. You wouldn’t expect the sort of edgy, urban international hipsters that attend SXSW – the music, film, and technology festival …

Literary Resolutions

“Now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions”, wrote Mark Twain in Nevada’s Territorial Enterprise on January 1, 1863. “Next week you can …

Scary Christmas shows

It was the blow job joke that did it.

Admittedly, the RSC’s new winter show, The Heart of Robin Hood, had signalled from the …

In Residence: Madonna del Prato

Perhaps the recession makes us eager to feel we’re getting more for our money. Perhaps James Cameron, Peter Jackson and the other masters of the …

Speakeasy season

The envelope was black, the address handwritten in silver calligraphy. Inside nestled a small, shining graphite key on a thin black cord. This was, the …

Demystifying writing

How does a novel happen?

In theory, it is a pretty simple process. First find something to say. Then – to paraphrase Coleridge – put …

Wearable art

Investment pieces: we all know the theory. On a personal level, the interminable recession is forcing us to reassess our throwaway attitude to fashion. As …

The Reluctant Re-Reader

I have always found the desire to re-read novels bewildering. I do it, obviously. I can’t deny that it’s a pleasurable and fruitful exercise. But …

Are you ready to be a member?

When it comes to London arts and culture, membership is a rather fraught concept. On one hand it seems inimical to the spirit of the …

Writing changes children’s lives

I’ve been pretty rubbish with literary festivals this year, thanks to a combination of a wedding, no money and erratic organisational skills. I didn’t squat …

The multiplex addict’s guide to slightly braver cinema

It’s that time of year when we start to feel the good film itch. Despite the odd much-hyped festival import summer has never been a great …

The Fashion Week Virgin

For a London Fashion Week virgin, the first time you pass between the columns that mark the entrance to Somerset House – swapping the everyday …