A first edition of the first in the Harry Potter series containing hand drawings and annotations by author JK Rowling has sold at auction for £150,000.

Once upon a time in Icelandic, Danish, German, French ...

'On safari in Kruger National Park, we ate breakfast beside a pod of hippos'

As Quentin Blake receives his knighthood from the Queen today, we look back at some of his distinctive ink and watercolour illustrations.

TV pick of the week: Black Mirror

A few decades ago many teachers thought him not a 'classic' but a pest

His dark humour and wacky characters enchanted generations, so why are modern children now leaving Charlie, Matilda and Mr Fox on the shelf?

Where has this talent been hiding?

Keep boredom at bay on long journeys or dull afternoons this summer with pages and pages of fiction, fantasy and fun

TV's Superstar victor looks to be having a riot as he is seen in his winning role for the first time - facing baton-wielding police.

I see now that a writing retreat is productive only if removing yourself from a life so full of distraction that you need the isolation in order to focus on your work. But if you are the kind of writer who doesn't do much of a day to merit this or any other job title, two weeks on a remote Scottish island will not help you chip away at your writer's block.

From wooden pirates to brass chess pieces and Morph

Oscar-winning film-maker Sam Mendes is returning to the West End with a musical version of Charlie And The Chocolate Factory.

I finally "got" Wes Anderson the other day. Which is not to say that I hadn't "got" him before – in the sense of liking his work and always being willing to substitute his vision of the world for mine for an hour or two. Though I'm not very fond of fey art-house whimsy (see references to Miranda July passim), there has always been something about.