Best books… Richard Holmes The biographer chooses five ...

Music was an all-consuming escape. Now, every song he writes is a love song At 16, I was just starting to take writing seriously. I became obsessed with lyricism and writing lines and my heroes were a

Actor, presenter and now author Larry Lamb reveals why the written word – particularly verse – has always meant so much to him

MARIE peered out of the front room window, wondering if people would be on time. And not only that – what if nobody showed? She let the net curtain drop, listening to the kettle whistling in the kitch

Pulse Cynan Jones (Granta, £14.99) Saints Tim MacGabhann ...

Bob Cooper of Macclesfield, Cheshire remembers: From an early age, I have always loved reading and writing. My best subject at school was English to the detriment of maths, and I managed to become top