Cover stories: Silver Moon, Andrew Marr, Young Poet of the Year, Carol Channing

The new Silver Moon women's section at Foyles in Charing Cross Road in London will open its doors with a grand party for the book trade. "An oasis of blue and silver" featuring a new waxing and waning moon logo, the shop within a shop (it formerly traded independently on the same street) will have almost 1,500sq ft of space and will be able to seat 50 for in-store events. Indeed, a lively series of events is being finalised for this month and next, including evenings with Linda Grant – who won the 2000 Orange Prize with When I Lived in Modern Times and who this month publishes her new Liverpool novel, Still Here – and a signing with this year's Orange-shortlisted authors (announced later this month). Lisa St Aubin de Teran will also talk about her peripatetic life and read from her latest book, Memory Maps.

* Long-time readers of this newspaper will surely recall the pleasures brought to them by former editor Andrew Marr, now the BBC's political editor. A thoughtful judge of last year's Samuel Johnson award for non-fiction, Marr is now beginning work on his own book. Who, What, When, Where, Why? are the five interrogatives familiar to any rookie journalist and, under that heading, Marr will be "reflecting on the longer-term trends and the bigger picture ... I hope it will stir up a few hornets, if not the whole nest". Publisher Macmillan will be hoping for another journalistic bestseller to add to its roster of books by the likes of John Simpson and John Sargeant.

* Good news for budding young poets: the Foyle Foundation is sponsoring the Poetry Society's Young Poet of the Year Award, for 11- to 18-year-olds. Fifteen winners will receive a week's tutoring by the award's judges, who this year include Matthew Sweeney, at the Arvon Foundation Centre in Yorkshire. It's not the first time that the bookshop has supported poets: in 1949, William Foyle, co-founder of Foyles, established the Foyle Prize for Poetry, worth £250 – a generous purse in those days. Further details at www.poetrysociety.org.uk.

* Actress Carol Channing is at work on her memoirs and her American editor, Michael Korda, a member of the celebrated celluloid dynasty, has decreed the manuscript needs more sex. The actress argued, editor counter-argued – until Channing decided to cite her contract, which stated that she had total control over the book's content. Simon & Schuster will not have more sex from that woman.