The Latest Breaking News from Anne Tyler

I should not worry so much, because reading slumps come and go. But every time one comes, I worry that it won't ever go. What if I've permanently lost my ability to concentrate? This is certainly possible, in this age of ever-distracting social media.

Pandemics force us to face our mortality, prompting profound questions about life’s meaning. It is not surprising, therefore, that since the days of medieval plague outbreaks, infectious diseases have attracted the imagination of novelists. These stories operate as cautionary tales, holding humanity to account.

Studies show men avoid female authors. Ahead of the Women’s prize for fiction, chair of judges Mary Ann Sieghart finds out why – and we ask male authors to redress the balance

From Franz Kafka to Anne Tyler, literature amplifies the author’s moving insights into living with agoraphobia and the remedies that have helped him