From offbeat French thrillers to Iranian existentialism, the London Film Festival’s bountiful global line-up proves subtitles aren’t a barrier to entertainment.

From offbeat French thrillers to Iranian existentialism, the London Film Festival’s bountiful global line-up proves subtitles aren’t a barrier to entertainment.

Our pick of literary-leaning screenings in the 70th edition of the London Film Festival, which kicks off with Andrew Scott in Simon Stone’s Elsinore.

Our pick of literary-leaning screenings in the 70th edition of the London Film Festival, which kicks off with Andrew Scott in Simon Stone’s Elsinore.

Doubt, suspicion and creeping jealousy set in as weekly trysts after a holiday romance begin to lose their lustre. From the collection Maybe Even Happiness.

Born in Iran and raised in Zimbabwe, Doris Lessing (October 22, 1919–November 17, 2013) was fourteen when she dropped out of school and eighty-eight when she won the Nobel Prize for smelting language into keys to “the prisons we choose to live inside.” Having lived in writing for nearly a century, through the rise and fall of dictatorships, the ferment and fizzle of movements, the flickering of moral fashions, she understood uniquely both the power of the written word and its limitations, the way books should be read “for illumination, to enlarge one’s perception of life” and not for indoctrination,… read article

Leo Butler talks to Alexandra Samothraki about his work for the stage and his new book Notes from a Working-Class Playwright.

Paula Ramón, author of "Motherland," recommends literature about the past and present of her home country

YouTube video by Film4

Loner Wilf Kelly, recognising a kindred spirit, resolves to tame an urban fox. Extract from Richard Tyrrell’s big-hearted debut novel The Fox of Kensal Green.

An appreciation of naturalist Sally Carrighar, who transplanted lemmings into her Alaskan home to study them, by the author of No Place Like Nome.

A single poem to mark the start of the Christmas season from Chris Emery’s fifth collection, Wonder.

Editor Basma Ghalayini introduces the new anthology Palestine Minus One, a collection of stories by Palestinian writers reimagining the eve of the Nakba.

Editor Basma Ghalayini introduces the new anthology Palestine Minus One, a collection of stories by Palestinian writers reimagining the eve of the Nakba.

Translator Alexandra Samothraki talks to author and Ichthyology professor Giannis Paschos about his remarkable memoir Chronicles of a Dyslexic Author.

Georgia de Chamberet finds much to admire in Nicholas Blincoe’s Oliver Twist & Me, a dual biography of Dickens and the author’s workhouse apprentice ancestor.

Publisher and poet Chris Emery looks back on an unexpected encounter in his teenage years, and reflects on the mechanics of writing from lived experience.

Some days it can feel as if climate catastrophe is inevitable. But history is full of cases – such as the banning of whaling and CFCs – that show humanity can come together to avert disaster

A round-up of eye-catching adaptations to look out for at LFF 2025, from Frankenstein and The Stranger to The Thing with Feathers and H is for Hawk.

Short story master Patrick Ryan’s debut novel BUCKEYE is a sweeping tale of love, war, secrets and desire in a small-town American community.

With her husband unable to hold down a job and provide for the family, Pakistani housewife Tara takes a drastic step to become a breadwinner. From A Splintering

The simple task of hanging a reproduction painting causes escalating friction between a tetchy couple. From the collection The Shadow of the Mammoth

Allison King talks pencils and pets, community, continuity and suspense as she delves into her writing habits for tips for fellow writers.

Marie O’Hare reflects on the lightbulb moment when she saw she had to concentrate on creating rounded female characters that reflect her own experiences.

Standing in line to enter the next world, a recently deceased hedge-fund analyst queries the protocol of the afterlife. From Autocorrect by Etgar Keret.

The author of Aftertaste tells Farhana Gani about melding food and ghosts with romance and menace in her sensuous novel about connecting with the afterlife.

An extract from Vichy France historian Cécile Desprairies’ novel The Propagandist, drawing on her family’s sympathies and collaboration with the Nazi occupiers.

Liann Zhang introduces her satirical debut thriller Julie Chan Is Dead, and lets us inside her writing rituals and litearry influences.

Farhana Gani relishes Nussaibah Younis’ radically funny debut novel Fundamentally, about a misguided attempt to repatriate ISIS brides from Baghdad.

When your dental hygienist critiques book reading over real-life documentaries, and you are powerless to interject… From Unsavory Thoughts by Thomas Walton.

15-year-old Joshua makes a pact with the vampire that has taken residence in the crawlspace beneath his house. From the collection North American Lake Monsters.

How historical cases of murderous female rebellion continue to reverberate in the present day. Extract from Thou Savage Woman by Blessin Adams.

An extract from Meike Ziervogel’s novel SHAMS presents an uncompromising and enduring portrait of Shatila refugee camp in southern Beirut.

A drink-fuelled school cruise out of Athens leads to unwanted liaisons and recriminations. From Marni Appleton’s debut story collection I Hope You’re Happy.

Surekha Davies calls for an end to monstrifying narratives about minority populations, and an acceptance of our interdependence with each other and with nature.

Paul McVeigh weighs up the differing challenges of long- and short-form fiction, marking publication of I Hear You; a collection of stories written for Radio 4.