The Diary: Stanley Donwood; The Royal Court; Headhunters; Boom Nails

The king of T-shirts

He is known as the "sixth member of Radiohead", the shadowy figure who provides all of the band's artwork. Now Stanley Donwood – variously believed to be a pseudonym for Dan Rickwood, an old university friend of Radiohead's lead singer or even for Thom Yorke himself – has written a book. Household Worms, a volume of short stories described by Yorke as "the ridiculous ramblings of a bald, mad man", and featuring Donwood's art on its cover, will published next week. Donwood began writing a decade ago, inspired by his own nightmares. "I used to write them down to distance myself from them," he says. "They were very short – none of the fluff and flammery you associate with people talking about dreams." The book contains 120 stories "of varying length and cheerfulness", including a horror story inspired by Donwood's stint working in an "upmarket Wimpy" in Essex. As for the day job, next month Donwood will show a 20ft long linocut of LA being destroyed "by fire, flood and meteor storms" at Subliminal Projects, Shepard Fairey's gallery on Sunset Boulevard. And having been Grammy-nominated for his artwork on Radiohead's The King of Limbs, he is now hard at work designing merchandise for the band's tour, including T-shirts. In keeping with his anti-corporate spirit, these will feature the addresses of venues rather than sponsored names. "I just put the street name on them so the UK one won't say 'The O2'," he says. "I decided to do a T-shirt for every single gig, to make it really specific. I didn't realise I'd have to do 40."

Royal appointment

Nice work if you can get it. The Royal Court is currently sifting applications for the top job at the theatre. Dominic Cooke will leave his post as artistic director in April 2013 but is looking to begin the handover to a successor as early as next month. Meanwhile, executive director Kate Horton is set to become deputy executive director at the National within a few weeks.

Cooke is apparently leaving to concentrate on freelance work but has been tipped to take over at the RSC when Michael Boyd announces his replacement any day now. With Kevin Spacey and Nicholas Hytner preparing the ground for their departures from the Old Vic and the National in the next few years, London's Theatreland could have a very different complexion soon.

In the meantime, who to take over at Sloane Square? Associate director Jeremy Herrin is well placed, having directed hits including David Hare's The Vertical Hour, both of Polly Stenham's plays and Spur of the Moment by teenager Anya Reiss. Should the theatre decide to appoint its first female AD, Thea Sharrock and Natalie Abrahami – both of whom spent their twenties running a theatre (Sharrock, the Southwark Playhouse; Abrahami, the Gate) – could be smart choices. Exciting times.

Heads up on a new Norwegian export

Headhunters, an adaptation of Jo Nesbo's Norwegian crime thriller, is the next Scandi sensation to hit screens, arriving in the UK on 6 April. Produced by Yellow Bird, the film is far from the moody, magisterial Scandi-noir epitomised by the Swedish company's versions of Wallander and the Millennium Trilogy. Instead, the film, about a bumptious recruitment consultant who keeps his model wife in diamonds and expensive architecture by stealing his clients' art on the side, is a pacey, blood-soaked, frequently hilarious heist movie, with lashings of nudity. One scene in particular – which plays out like a Nordic pastiche of Slumdog Millionaire's famous latrine scene – had the audience rolling in the aisles at a preview screening this week. With a flair for comically escalating violence, director Morten Tyldum may have coined a new genre, with a generous nod to a certain Quentin of Hollywood. Move over Scandi-noir, the Scandi-tino is here.

Body art

Buying the catalogue is so passé. If you want a lasting(ish) souvenir of an exhibition, why not get one painted on your nails? Boom Nails will be giving Kusama manicures to visitors at Tate Modern on 24 March, as part of a weekend of free activities around the current show. Nail artist Emma Zentner has come up with 15 or so vivid designs inspired by the exhibition, featuring Kusama's trademark bright colours, disembodied eyes and dots. It will be her first attempt at turning masterpieces into manicures. "I was expecting a lot of dotty stuff but was surprised by the range," says Zentner. Expect nail bars to come as standard at private views near you in future.