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Chance to meet Karen Charlton and Barry Stone Jan 07 2012

KAREN CHARLTON, whose debut historical novel was published before Christmas, will be signing copies of Catching the Eagle at Waterstone’s, Newcastle, on January 14.Read

North East mat making memories are fascinating Dec 31 2011

A BOOK recording memories of mat making in the North East also proves its worth as a fascinating social history, as Tamzin Lewis discovers.Read

Interview with children's author Anne Fine Dec 24 2011

HAT will award-winning author Anne Fine be doing this Christmas Eve? Quite possibly going ever so slightly doolally.Read

Books worth looking out for in new year Dec 21 2011

Disappearance and Dickens are literary themes for 2012. JAMES HOGG, sales executive of Newcastle-based Inpress, which represents small publishers, selects some New Year reads.Read

New Writing North plans to expand in 2012 Dec 21 2011

NEW Writing North is one of the organisations that Arts Council England has chosen to significantly develop partnerships and work across the North West and Yorkshire as well as our home terrain of the North East.Read

Preview of books published in 2012 Dec 21 2011

RATHER like bankers stashing their bullion away, the big publishing houses are playing it safe next year with anniversaries emerging as the principal theme for new books.Read

Debate over Shakespeare's plays explored by Northumbria University lecturer Dec 07 2011

THE theory that Shakespeare did not write the plays attributed to him inspired the recent Hollywood film, Anonymous, and it will be the subject of a public lecture in Newcastle today.Read

Newcastle: A tale of one city that survived the worst Dec 03 2011

PEOPLE who want to put Newcastle in a nutshell talk about Geordies and the legacy of coal and shipbuilding on the Tyne.Read

Closing gala for 29th Children’s Book Festival Nov 19 2011

IF you suspect children are not reading as much these days, you should get along to Benfield School in Newcastle this weekend.Read

Holocaust survivor set to speak at Newcastle Winter Book Festival Nov 17 2011

COMEDY, poetry, autobiography and gruesome crime...just some of the ingredients of the Newcastle Winter Book Festival. David Whetstone savours a literary feast.Read

Life of Magrs Nov 12 2011

Author, professional fantasist and Doctor Who fan Paul Magrs tells David Whetstone about his latest publishing ventureRead

Children’s books are brimming with colour Oct 29 2011

If there was a Desert Island Discs for young children, The Very Hungry Caterpillar would be a contender for the equivalent of the Bible and given to everyone. But in addition to this timeless classic, Eric Carle has written a host of marvellous books, the latest of which is The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse. It’s brimming with Eric’s signature bold collages, colours and clever writing. And it is inspired by the German Expressionist painter Franz Marc’s Blue Horse. Eric first came across his work as a child while living in Nazi Germany, during which period Franz Marc was branded a degenerate. Eric’s book is about how there are no rules in art – ‘one must not stay within the lines’ is Eric’s advice.Read

Former Chancellor Alistair Darling to speak at Durham Book Festival Oct 22 2011

DURHAM Book Festival reaches its climax this weekend with a host of authors heading for the Town Hall.Read

North East writers have poetry collections published Oct 06 2011

NEW collections of poetry by two North East writers are being launched by Northumberland-based Red Squirrel Press to mark National Poetry Day.Read

Wife’s plea lifts veil on secrets of the castrato Oct 01 2011

The extraordinary life and marriage of an 18th Century castrato are detailed in a new book. DAVID WHETSTONE reportsRead

Mo Foster rock guitar history book will strike a chord Sep 17 2011

MO FOSTER is best known as a session musician – an accomplished bass player who has performed alongside greats such as Jeff Beck, Van Morrison, Eric Clapton, Hank Marvin, Sting, Cliff Richard and Dusty Springfield.Read

Celebrating the extraordinary in Skellig prequel Sep 17 2011

THERE’S an episode in David Almond’s My Name is Mina, the recent prequel to the wonderful and widely-lauded Skellig, where, in a pupil referral unit, he brings together an imagined destruction of civilisation, the idea of a boy creating new creatures out of the bits of birds and animals he finds and the stories of illiterate young people.Read

A long and grim journey of the 9/11 killings Sep 10 2011

STANDING transfixed in front of our television screens, as many of us did on the morning of September 11, 2001, the bleakest of thoughts came to the fore.Read