Literature
Perhaps a dying art, perhaps the highest of human achievements. Get reading with our expert views:
The biographer's perspective
Professor Jim Moore talks about the motivation for his work with Darwin - and Darwin's motivations: Darwin and me.
A year of reading
Join us on a literary tour to China, ancient Greece - and across the prose portal with books for 2008.
12 months, 12 books
Big Ben chimes again, marking the start of another year of reading: What are our books for 2007?
A year in reading: 2006
Selected to surprise, delight and entertain, sample some of our books for 2006.
A year in reading: 2005
Another twelve months' worth of escape and discovery with our books for 2005.
A year in reading: 2004
Twelve months, twelve great reads: Revisit the Big Read and our books for 2004.
Making monsters
Heartbreak, passion and the quest for respectability - it's a wonder Mary Shelley had as much time for writing as prolifically as she did. Follow the story of Shelley.
Modern romance
The Romantics gave us a new world vision, encompassing revolution and philosophy. Are we making the best of the legacy of the Romantics?
Reason and rhyme
A love triangle, A dark lady - the life of Shakespeare... or Shakespearean life? Decode the sonnets.
In modern dress?
Cross dressing, ghosts, racism and war - do the modern resonances in his work make Shakespeare our contemporary?
Sanity in madness
The Vietnam war provided a fresh context for a Second World War novel. Germaine Greer opens Catch 22.
Shakespeare's key players
"All the world's a stage", Shakespeare wrote, but what of Shakespeare's private world? Come behind the curtain to meet Shakespeare's family.
The original lit hit
He was the first literary superstar - and although his popular reputation is built on them, Chaucer did much more than The Canterbury Tales.
![Julian Barnes [Image: Ellen Warner]](images/julianbarnes_progfront_3121.jpg)
Starting with Julian Barnes
How does a writer take a blank sheet and set about making a novel? Find out in our Julian Barnes interview.
Writing home
Even your own family may become unfamiliar as you write about them. Find out why in our Hanif Kureishi interview.
Go create
Did you know your computer can enhance your creative skills? The worldwide web is a great source of inspiration. Learn five ways to get creative online.
Trying out loud
Trying out dialogue at the bus stop might get you odd looks but could improve your plays, suggests Mark Ravenhill.
![Howard Jacobson [Image: Jenny Jacobson]](images/jacobson_progfront_3267.jpg)
Character witness
It's a constant struggle for his characters to stop from turning out with too much in common with Howard Jacobson.
Keeping pages turning
The need for a thrilling plot as well as all the other staples of great novels makes crime writing even more demanding, explains Sarah Dunant.
A well-lived life
Did Marlowe make his time or shaped by the events of his era? Follow the Marlowe timeline.
Deal or no deal?
Discover the secrets of Dr Faustus, creator Christopher Marlowe and all about the play.
Being Faustus
How do you get insidecharacters written centuries ago? The cast explore acting the part.
Taking to the air
How do you go about adapting a stage play for the very different medium of radio? Follow Faustus from stage to studio.
Turning back the pages
Make sense of iambic pentameter and blank verse with tips for reading Renaissance drama.
Sharing the messages
How do the challenges facing us all shape media and arts in an interdependent world?
Oedipus adapted
The same story gets a different treatment to fit the times of the retelling, as shown by competing Oedipus myths.
Hearing women's lives
You can discover real lives of classical Greece in literature, but it takes a closer reading to find the real women.
Of mice and men
Talking mice, epicurean delights and farming: What lays at the heart of Horace's carpe diem?
Arthur C Clarke: an appreciation
Much more than a sci-fi writer: Dave Rothery pays tribute to Arthur C Clarke.
Some extra, just for you
The subject of his biography, Andrew Motion explains what he likes about Philip Larkin.
Content last updated: 22/02/2006
