A festival intent on ridding us of the myriad modern-day distractions that stop us from embracing the fullness of the present moment will use unconventional artistic methods to cajole audiences into “mindfulness”.

This book is about being messed up, and "then being messed up even more by numbing doses of pharmaceuticals", Deborah Levy tells us in her introduction to this short, stunning read.

This annual feast satisfies again. Its score of stories never need shout, or pose, in order to transform everyday life. As Anneliese Mackintosh has it ("Doctors"), "writing doesn't have to be like a million fireworks all going off at once".

The bestselling historical novelist talks to Arifa Akbar about old and new monarchies and her follow-up to The White Queen

Kumbh Mela: the Greatest Show on Earth, BBC2

The Mill, Sun, Channel 4 // The Mystery of Rome's X Tombs, Sun, BBC2

This collection proves the desire to travel is not only a need to be taken outside of one's world but to be returned in some way.

Images of witches have always had a sexual aspect, as a new show in Edinburgh vividly demonstrates

The course of true love might rarely run smooth for us humans, but The Mating Game proved that for those struggling with singledom in the animal kingdom, it can be even tougher.

The Merseyside "patron saint of poetry" has mellowed in some ways.