The British author talks about why she writes detective fiction Read more
now playing
PD James interview
The British author talks about why she writes detective fiction
Noel Coward profile
The life of the English actor, playwright and composer
Frederick Forsyth interview
The political thriller writer talks about his book, The Phantom of Manhattan
Joan of Arc
Why the French figure has inspired more than 50 films and over 1000 books
Mumbai Film Festival
How the Indian city's uniquely privately-financed festival was founded
The Turner Prize
The winner of the prize is announced: Steve McQueen
Waiting for Love in Commmunist China
Prize-winning novelist Ha Jin talks about writing in English about love and life in China
Utopias in literature
Professor John Carey and AC Grayling discuss the Faber Book of Utopias
The Art Of Fireworks
How fireworks have influenced art and literature
Disney's Fantasia
Critics and fans talk about the movie which has divided audiences since its release
Meridian's highlights of 1999
The year's high points in film, music, dance, literature and architecture
Sam Mendes interview
The director of American Beauty discusses his successful transition from stage to screen
AOL buys Time Warner
How the internet provider's purchase of the entertainment company will change the industry
1900: Art at the Crossroads
An exhibition in London which looks back at the Exposition Universelle of 1900 in Paris
Sundance film festival
The critic Kenneth Turan talks about the festival's highlights including Girlfight
George Orwell
A reassessment of one of the great twentieth century writers
Sundance Film Festival winners
Kenneth Turan on the films which shared the big prize at the independent film festival
Zadie Smith interview
The young British novelist talks about her much-hyped debut novel White Teeth
Alan Ayckbourn interview
The British playwright talks about his remarkable career and his play Virtual Reality
How are fictional characters created?
The writers Pat Cumper and Jim Crace discuss the fundamental element of storytelling
Joanna Trollope interview
Joanna Trollope talks about her latest novel; 'A History of Reading' by Alberto Manguel. Neil Bissoondath novel.
Indian film director Deepa Mehta
A report from Varanasi, after Hindu extremists destroyed Mehta's film set
Composer Mark Anthony Turnage
The English composer talks about how he created his opera The Silver Tassie
Novelist Stephen Amidon
The American writer talks about his ambitious novel, The New City, set in an utopian town
Austrian artists' protest against the far right
How over 2000 Austrian artists are responding to the right-wing Freedom party
Andrew Motion on Wainewright the Poisoner
Andrew Motion explains why he wrote Wainewright the Poisoner, a highly unusal biography
Indian Cinema tackles Partition
Hey Ram, about the assassination of Gandhi, is the first Indian film to address Partition
The Arts lead the Way for Serbia
How the arts in Serbia are helping to renew the country's culture
Literary hunt for the last Thylacine
Julia Lee's novel tracks a mysterious hunter on the trail of the last Tasmanian tiger
Checking up on artworks' Nazi connections
List of 350 artworks in UK museums with wartime gaps in their provenances
Zakir Hussain – Master of the Tabla
Profile of Indian musician Zakir Hussain, the great tabla player