Gift-giving season is grand (books in the book grocer’s stocking [if the grinch banker doesn't steal Christmas]), but when it comes to unadulterated bibliophilia, it’s autumn that sets our hearts aflutter. With literature festivals ongoing all over the country and a rapid rollout of the heavy hitter awards (the Forward, Nobel and Booker prizes, all in less than a week), there’s plenty to keep us nourished for the duvet days of winter. Booker Tuesday:......

Yet another reason our love runs deep for literary London: this happy little subculture is as diverse as the city itself. On offer this week is an eclectic mixture ranging from an Asian literature festival, to a panel discussion of the utility of creative writing courses, to a talk with a well-known American memoirist. As always, the difficulty is in choosing which events we just can’t bear to miss. Monday: Blame last week’s summer-like......

We began this week with a great big gaping void: the very excellent London Word Festival has come to an end (though you can watch highlights here), and our nearly 40-day-long combination chocolate and carbon dioxide fast has left us, well, a bit snippy (we’ll certainly be biting the heads off those cloyingly cute Lindt bunnies come this weekend). In short, we didn’t have great expectations for the week. Yet, after taking a look......