Tales of the SuburbsAs a boy growing up in the Black Countrydrained grey by Mrs Thatchers steely policiesJamie dreams of escape to a magical metropolis where he can rub shoulders with the mythical creatures who inhabit the pages of his Smash Hits. Although, his hometown is not without characters and Jamies life not without dramascourtesy of a cast of West Midlands divas led by his mother, Gloria. Her one liners are as colourful as the mohair cardies she carries off with

the deals we do to stay human in the dehumanising conditions of the twenty-first century

Immaculate in its unadorned plainness

women and men whose example can teach us about the importance of being willing to stand up and fight against cruelty

edited by John Pilling and Peter Robinson

(‘Mirror Beetle’)

Lange is today recognized in the Spanish-speaking world as a great writer and is here translated into English for the first time

and what it means to do so with a heightened exchange of empathy

and the final book introduces the eleventh-century German mystic Othlo of St

the subjugation of nature

From Australia to Antarctica

As his four tragedies interweave

Banipal’s Guest Literature feature this issue comes from Germany: eight great authors at the top of their fields