3 d. ago Shakespeare was actually a black Jewish woman, new book claims

Feminist historian identifies Tudor poet Emilia Bassano as true author whose identity was hidden by literary establishment

Politics

4 d. ago William Shakespeare was actually a black woman, feminist historian and LSE graduate claims in new book

The real playwright is identified as the historical figure Emilia Bassano in a newly published book called The Real Shakespeare.

Politics

6 d. ago Paul Mescal is out and Delroy Lindo is in: Oscar nomination snubs and surprises

There were some unexpected omissions in the nominations.

Politics

7 d. ago Irish stars Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal tipped for Oscar nominations

The contenders will be revealed on Thursday.

Politics

1 week ago Gordon Brown 'regrets' not opposing Iraq War as former PM claims he was misled on WMD in new book

Mr Brown has said former Foreign Secretary Robin Cook 'had a clearer view' than the rest of the Government of the claims, which led to Britain's involvement in the Iraq War.

Events

1 week ago Who was Freddie Mercury's 'secret daughter' as B dies aged 48

A book from Freddie Mercury's biographer released last year claimed the woman, known only as B, was the star's daughter.

Events

2 w. ago Irish heartthrobs Paul Mescal and Cillian Murphy attend special screening of Hamnet in London

Normal People star Paul, 29, portrays William Shakespeare in the film which follows him and his wife Agnes as they cope with the death of their son Hamnet.

Politics

2 w. ago Farmhouse that The Salt Path author Raynor Winn was forced to sell before going on 630

Raynor Winn, who wrote the best-selling book, claims she lost the farmhouse in Wales, when she and her husband Moth invested in a friend's company that failed.

Culture

2 w. ago Charlie Hebdo tried to humiliate me. Instead it debased the freedom of speech it symbolises | Rokhaya Diallo

The satirical title targeted in an Islamist attack 10 years ago published a racist, sexist caricature of me that speaks volumes about its valuesThe day before Christmas Eve, just as France readied itself to slip into the holiday slowdown, something abruptly shook me out of any festive torpor. The satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, known globally and tragically for being the target of an Islamist attack in 2015 published a caricature – of me. And it was appallingly racist. A huge, toothy grin, an enormous mouth, the cartoon depicts me dancing on a stage before an audience of laughing white men, adorned with a banana belt on a largely exposed body. The headline: “The Rokhaya Diallo Show: Mocking secularism around the world.”Stunned by the violence of this grotesque cartoon, I shared it on social media with a brief analysis: “In keeping with slave-era and colonial imagery, Charlie Hebdo once again shows itself incapable of engaging with the ideas of a Black woman without reducing her to...

Politics

2 w. ago Hamnet writer hails creative ‘family’ after Golden Globes success

Maggie O’Farrell wrote the novel of the same name.

Politics

2 w. ago Hamnet review: This powerful exploration of love and grief is exquisitely acted and will break your heart

Famously, little is known of the private life of William Shakespeare, still less that of his wife, Anne Hathaway, and it is important to remember that as Hamnet weaves its enchanting spell.

Politics

2 w. ago Love Island's Shaq Muhammad says he has 'nothing to hide' after claims he cheated on Tanya

The personal trainer has vowed to be an “open book” after claims he cheated on his ex, Tanya Manhenga, whilst on a lads’ holiday

Politics

2 w. ago ‘She will go down as one of the best’: the rise of Jessie Buckley

From talent shows to the big screen, the actor’s performance in Hamnet has made her a leading awards contenderHamnet, Chloé Zhao’s film adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s bestselling novel about William Shakespeare and his wife, Agnes (or Anne) Hathaway, is a tender meditation on love and grief. Charting the couple’s anguish over the death of their 11-year-old son – said to have inspired the play Hamlet – it has moved audiences to tears and united critics in their praise.The film’s emotional force is carried by the Irish actor and singer Jessie Buckley, who portrays Hathaway (opposite Paul Mescal’s Shakespeare) with a rawness and intimacy that has already earned her a Critics’ Circle award for best actress, and marked her out as a leading contender for the Golden Globes, Baftas and Oscars. The Guardian film critic Peter Bradshaw called her “unselfconsciously beguiling”, while Rolling Stone predicted audiences “will be talking about Jessie Buckley’s performance for years”. Continue rea...

Politics

3 w. ago Jessie Buckley scores Actor Award nod after Critics Choice Awards triumph

The 36-year-old received a nod for her role as William Shakespeare’s wife Agnes Hathaway – historically known as Anne – in historical drama Hamnet.

Events

3 w. ago The Oak and the Larch by Sophie Pinkham review – are Russia’s forests the key to its identity?

How billions of trees left their mark on an empire’s psyche – shaping ideological and literal battles up to the present dayWhen Sophie Pinkham opens her fascinating book with the claim that “Russia has more trees than there are stars in our galaxy”, it might seem as though she is merely using a poetic turn of phrase. But the statistic is correct: while the Milky Way is estimated to have roughly 200bn stars, Russia has something in the region of 642bn trees. Stretching from the Arctic tundra to central Asia to the Pacific Ocean, the Russian forest is vast, mighty and inhospitable. Yet while it is a source of potential danger, it is also a place of great beauty and potential riches, providing furs, minerals and rivers overflowing with salmon.Pinkham, a professor of comparative literature at Cornell University whose last book explored the intricacies of post-Soviet Ukraine, here charts the landscape’s influence on the Russian psyche, and its imprint on history, society and literat...

Politics

3 w. ago Jessie Buckley had the ‘deep need’ to become a mother after filming Hamnet

The 36-year-old admitted that embodying a mother mourning the loss of a child made her feel drawn to becoming a parent.

Politics

3 w. ago Hamnet review – Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley beguile and captivate in audacious Shakespearean tragedy

Chloé Zhao’s film version of Maggie O’Farrell’s myth-making novel powerfully reimagines the agonising loss of a child as the source of Hamlet’s grand stage drama‘The joys of parents are secret, and so are their griefs and fears ” This is Francis Bacon’s essay Of Parents and Children; maybe they were more secret in his day than ours. This kind of secrecy and revelation is part of Chloé Zhao’s deeply felt romantic fantasy about the origin of William Shakespeare’s tragedy Hamlet. It locates the play’s beginning in the imagined anguish of Shakespeare and his wife Agnes (or Anne) Hathaway at the death of their son Hamnet at the age of 11 in 1596, a few years before the play’s first performance.The nearness of the names is not supposed to be some monumental Freudian slip; there is linguistic evidence that the two could be used interchangeably. The movie is inspired by Maggie O’Farrell’s 2020 novel of the same name – Zhao co-wrote the screenplay with O’Farrell – as well as the 2004 essay T...

Politics

3 w. ago Paul Mescal says he will start rationing workload to avoid resenting his career

Mescal revealed he might be more selective with his work and that people will get a break from seeing him after he is done promoting Hamnet.

Politics

3 w. ago The Guardian Footballer of the Year Jess Carter: ‘I remember not wanting to go out’

England defender publicly confronted racist abuse at the Euros and ended 2025 a title winner with club and countryThe Guardian Footballer of the Year is an award given to a player who has done something remarkable, whether by overcoming adversity, helping others or setting a sporting example by acting with exceptional honesty.Jess Carter has spent her life grappling with when to hold back and when to speak up; wrestling with being naturally herself, embodying the characteristics her parents instilled in her of being open, honest, vocal and confident, and subduing herself because, while society values those traits, in a black woman they can be viewed negatively. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Doomed lovers, high heels and The Odyssey: films to get excited about in 2026

Margot Robbie busts her corset in Wuthering Heights, the Devil Wears Prada sequel goes fashionably to war, and Christopher Nolan brings us a Greek epic. Plus much more in our pick of the best films coming to UK cinemas this year• More from the 2026 culture previewJessie Buckley may need to hire a carpenter for the silverware-cabinet she is expected to need for her hugely admired performance in the film based on the Maggie O’Farrell novel. She plays Anne (or Agnes) Hathaway, wife of William Shakespeare, grieving the terrible loss of their 11-year-old son, Hamnet, in 1596, which the story imagines to be a spur to the creation of Shakespeare’s play Hamlet. Paul Mescal plays Shakespeare and Emily Watson his mother, Mary. • 9 January. Continue reading...

Politics