Essays
In Ordinary Time by Carmel McMahon review – the trials of inherited trauma
The writer uses her own story of emigration, uncertainty and alcoholism as one thread in a wider historical tapestry
Sean O’Hagan
05, Mar, 2023 @9:00 AM
What we’re reading: writers and readers on the books they enjoyed in February
Critics and Guardian readers discuss the titles they have read over the last month. Join the conversation in the comments
Michael Donkor, Lan Samantha Chang and Guardian readers
28, Feb, 2023 @3:59 PM
Affinities by Brian Dillon review – in the eye of the beholder
A critic’s tour of the images that have entranced him, from Julia Margaret Cameron’s niece, to pictures of seahorses and a drawing of a migraine aura
Anil Gomes
23, Feb, 2023 @11:00 AM
Maus Now: Selected Writing, edited by Hillary Chute review – the Maus that made history
While Philip Pullman and Adam Gopnik illuminate Art Spiegelman’s towering graphic novel, few others in this collection succeed in capturing its spark and sophistication
Rachel Cooke
06, Feb, 2023 @7:00 AM
‘Like moving through water while everyone is on land’: the writers exploring sexuality through sea life
A host of LGBTQ+ authors are finding parallels with mermaids, tropical fish and other creatures of the deep as a way to make sense of their own lives
Ella Braidwood
03, Feb, 2023 @5:00 PM
Melbourne author Jessica Au wins $125,000 for ‘quietly powerful’ novella
Five of the eight winners at this year’s Victorian premier’s literary awards are debuts, with Au winning two categories for her second book, Cold Enough for Snow
Kelly Burke
02, Feb, 2023 @8:00 AM
M Degas Steps Out: An Essay by Philip Hoy review – an artistic encounter across a century
A nine-second 1915 film of the painter Edgar Degas inspires a beguiling meditation on life in Paris during the first world war
Matthew Reisz
29, Jan, 2023 @11:00 AM
The Written World and the Unwritten World by Italo Calvino review – exquisite flights of imagination
Calvino ponders life, literature and the mysterious spaces in between in this rich collection of essays, reviews, interviews and more
Tim Adams
10, Jan, 2023 @9:00 AM
The Written World and the Unwritten World by Italo Calvino review – a box of delights
Essays from the Italian polymath offer a penetrating exploration of the art of reading and writing
John Self
07, Jan, 2023 @7:30 AM
‘It altered my entire worldview’: leading authors pick eight nonfiction books to change your mind
Steven Pinker, Mary Beard, Rebecca Solnit and others reveal the books that made them see the world differently
07, Jan, 2023 @7:00 AM
My Life in Sea Creatures by Sabrina Imbler review – an exquisite science-memoir hybrid
Marine curiosities and the author’s own queer coming-of-age tale are intertwined in these evocative essays
Lucy Cooke
23, Dec, 2022 @7:30 AM
The best books to give as presents this Christmas
Authors and Observer critics choose the books they will be giving as gifts this year – and the one they’d like to find in their own stocking
11, Dec, 2022 @11:59 AM
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