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Authors and Observer critics choose the books they will be giving as gifts this year – and the one they’d like to find in their own stocking

Humour, beauty, solace ... the right poem can bring a ray of sunshine. Andrew Motion, Kayo Chingonyi, Tishani Doshi and other poets recommend the verses that lift their spirits

Delia Falconer and Nikki Gemmell latest writers to find out their works were selected for the HSC – after the exams

The German author’s contribution will remain unseen, alongside contributions from authors including Margaret Atwood and David Mitchell, until 2114

The Salvadorian poet on his journey to the US as a nine-year-old, the exciting literature coming from his homeland – and why he is indebted to Dave Eggers

The out of offices are flying in, the mercury is rising and the luggage queues at Heathrow are now stretching the 19-ish miles into central London. Which can only mean one thing: it is officially pool loungers and rosé-at-10am-cos-why-not season. But sunny holidays aren’t an excuse to let your brain…

Collection edited by Andrew McMillan and Mary Jean Chan ‘questions and redefines’ the meaning of its title

Writers are taking spooky books to places they’ve never gone before

The American author on how his own experience of psychedelic therapy sparked his debut novel, and his poems about the opioid epidemic

The Vietnamese-American poet on the legacy of war, navigating grief — and turning invisibility into a superpower

There’s more to a great talon salon than a pretty set of nails, says Susie Lau. It’s a heart-warming microcosm of the best of human nature