Fifteen specially commissioned essays from distinguished authors explore the place of the writer, past and present, the value of critical thinking, and the power of the written word. Their work articulates 'brave new words' at the heart of battles against limitations on fundamental rights of citizenship, the closure of national borders, fake news, and an increasing reluctance to engage with critical democratic debate. Contributors include Eva Hoffman, Romesh Gunesekera, Githa Hariharan, Ja...

'I do not know of any other writer who has done as much with language ... a very funny book' William S. BurroughsFifteen-year-old Alex doesn't just like ultra-violence - he also enjoys rape, drugs and Beethoven's ninth. He and his gang of droogs rampage through a dystopian future, hunting for terrible thrills. But when Alex finds himself at the mercy of the state and subject to the ministrations of Dr Brodsky, and the mind-altering treatment of the Ludovic...

Poet, playwright and novelist Blake Morrison evokes the lives of the Brontë sisters, with a nod to Chekhov's Three Sisters.Against the backdrop of a windswept northern village, three remarkable young women live their lives brightly.In Haworth in the 1840s, in a gloomy parsonage, where there are neither curtains nor comforts, Charlotte, Anne and Emily Brontë light up their world with outspoken wit, aspirations, dreams and ideas. And throughout their confined lives i...

'Lucid, tender and humane . . . One of the most formally agile and compassionate poets of our age’ Fiona BensonHere you are, on the balcony,the sea serenading you,the sun with its armful of light.In Afterburn, Blake Morrison returns to poetry, his first calling, to offers scenes from his own life and the lives of others. In psychology, 'afterburn' refers to the time before a past event is assimilated – an id...

A delightful compendium of musings from the master of life writing, the much-loved Blake Morrison, for those who practise the art of memoir, and those who read it.'Hallelujah! — now is the perfect time for Morrison’s book On Memoir' THE TIMES'Lessons in life writing from a master' THE GUARDIAN'The critic every literary editor turns to… an essential reference book' THE SPECTATOR

In recent years Seamus Heaney has earned the reputation of being ‘the most important Irish poet since Yeats’. In this book, originally published in 1982, Blake Morrison identifies the central characteristics of his achievement, uncovering the sources of Heaney’s poems, placing his work within both Irish and Anglo-American traditions and explaining his poetry’s complex relation to the political troubles in Northern Ireland. A lively, personal and carefully researched account by a writer who...

An anthology released to raise funds for the NHS and UK Healtcare workers. Fifty-three stories, 253,000 words of fiction, including several pieces that are original to this volume. A treasury of stories from some of the finest writers of science fiction, literary fiction, fantasy, horror, and more.Introduction by Ian WhatesLast Contact – Stephen BaxterSlink-Thinking – Frances HardingeGossamer – Ian WhatesThe Feather Dress – Lisa TuttleThe...

'Tender, vivid and achingly sad' GUARDIAN, BOOK OF THE YEARTWO SISTERS publishes on the 30th anniversary of Blake Morrison’s ground-breaking book And When Did You Last See Your Father? which forged the way for a new genre of confessional memoir.‘She’s gone, that’s all, and though there’s no retrieving her I’d like to make sense of who she was and what she became. It wasn’t just that she changed over time. She ...

‘A cul-de-sac, a dead-end track,A sandbanked strand to sink a fleet,A bay, a bar, a strip, a trap,A wrecking ground, that’s Shingle Street.’Blake Morrison’s first two collections, Dark Glasses (1984) and The Ballad of a Yorkshire Ripper (1987) established him as one of our most inventive and accomplished contemporary poets.In his first full-length collection for nearly thirty years, Shingle Street sees a return to the...

'Exquisitely metered, intimate and yet profound, glimmeringly intelligent…A worthwhile, interesting and impressive achievement’ Edward Docx, GuardianWhat matters most: fidelity or art? Marriage or friendship? The wishes of the living or the talents of the dead?Literary executor Matt Holmes finds himself considering these questions sooner than he thinks when his friend, the poet Robert Pope, dies unexpectedly. A trail of clues Rob h...

The use of creative writing as a route to personal development is a powerful therapeutic tool - a fact that is recognized in the growing numbers of workshops and writing groups within professional contexts, including clinical, health and criminal justice settings.Writing Works is a guide for writers or therapists working with groups or individuals and is full of practical advice on everything from the equipment needed to run a session to ideas for themes, all backed up by the theor...

In any 24 hours there might be sleeping, eating, kids, parents, friends, lovers, work, school, travel, deadlines, emails, phone calls, Facebook, Twitter, the news, the TV, Playstation, music, movies, sport, responsibilities, passions, desires, dreams.Why should you stop what you're doing and read a book?Reading is not an innate human ability. Many people can't read. Many people would rather read a newspaper, a magazine, a blog, a cereal packet, than a novel.But peop...