Our regular contributors select their highlights of the year.

Your conservative uncle needs to identify with the climate activist and then he needs to feel he can align with their actions and measures, writes Joyce Fegan.

Those of a certain age — among them veteran Canadian writer Margaret Atwood — may well remember the Eurovision Song Contest of 1969 in which four countries (the United Kingdom, Spain, the Netherlands, and France) won, the first time a tie had occurred.

Several days ago, the long-awaited sequel to Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale was released.

A “dramatic illumination” of Connemara mountains, snapshots of Homer’s Odyssey on Galway beaches and tightrope walking across the river Corrib are among highlights of the Galway 2020 European capital of culture unveiled on Wednesday evening.

Margaret Atwood's latest book hasn't been released yet has already scored the author a nomination for the Booker Prize. While judging is shrouded in secrecy, Joyce Fegan got her hands on an early copy of The Testaments.

Irish writer, Kevin Barry, who was the only Irish author on the longlist for his novel Night Boat to Tangier, did not make the shortlist.

Like a lot of podcast genres — and browsing a bookshop — when it comes to book shows, it’s about finding what suits you.

After paper-one left many English students 'beaming', paper-two provided a much more stern challenge.

Coombe Hospital’s theatre company in residence is to stage WOMB , a play which imagines birthing 100 years from now, writes Marjorie Brennan

There was a time when a woman’s place on TV coverage of the World Cup was restricted to leering crowd shots of female fans.

A horror sci-fi sensation, the car show which blew Top Gear out of the water, and The Crown are among Ireland’s top 10 digital downloads of the year.

Des O'Driscoll shares this week's talking points from the world of music, TV and film

Marian Keyes, Eimear McBride, and Edna O’Brien join JK Rowling and Harper Lee on a list of the 100 essential books by female writers from the past 100 years, according to a new poll.

Irene Halpin Long meets a class of book lovers in Cork, and also chats to established authors about what they read as children.

Our regular contributors select their highlights of the year

Netflix continued to make inroads, but the traditional channels also offered some excellent viewing in 2017, writes Des O’Driscoll

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Des O’Driscoll shares the latest entertainment news and his top tips for the week ahead

Just the thing to zone-out the talk of Christmas.

Hugh Hefner drew the ire of Christian conservatives and radical feminists alike, but many women have also said positive things about the late Playboy publisher, writes TP O’Mahony.

Wow, exciting! An episode of The Handmaid’s Tale is being filmed outside the Dail! Oh hang on. 

The demonstration by women wearing the famous white bonnets and red cloaks, coincided with the first meeting of the Committee on the Eighth Amendment.

Move over Making a Murderer, this is the new true-crime Netflix series we’ll be binge-watching.

Rachel Croash is a soprano from Dublin, and performs in Opera Collective Ireland’s new production Owen Wingrave.

The six-hour miniseries follows Grace Marks, a poor, young Irish immigrant and domestic servant in Upper Canada.

The shocking true story of an Irishwoman at the centre of a brutal double murder is tipped to be the next worldwide TV smash hit.

A grand total of £32,400 will be donated to name a teenage victim of the Grenfell Fire after a character in a new Philip Pullman book.

The Handmaid’s Tale and Top Of The Lake have seen Elisabeth Moss continue her upward trajectory since Mad Men, writes Susan Griffin

How is it possible that this novel was written in 1985, and yet so little has changed in 15 years, asks Louise O’Neill.

Your home viewing entertainment wrap for the week ahead, with Des O’Driscoll.

Quote of the week: “I understand that they feel like that is their body. I feel like it is a separate — what I call them is, is you’re a ‘host’.”

Disney’s films can have a strong cultural impact, so it’s important that Moana continues the trend for smart, dynamic heroines, writes Declan Burke

Last month a new website www.TheHunRealIssues.com was launched to educate a generation of women who feel they aren’t affected by gender inequality.

Brought up as the eldest of seven, Clár was always interested in words. 

It’s a bit embarrassing, really, when you think about it. Usually when Amnesty International get involved, the human rights violations are in places we dismiss as far, far away. Poor, troubled, undeveloped places, or countries in the grip of some megalomaniac tyrant. Places you wouldn’t want to go on your holiday.

Terry Pratchett spoke candidly about facing his own death after he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.

by Dylan Evans

Margaret Atwood interrogates the myths around the idea of being a writer. Val Nolan is impressed by her conclusions.

CANADIAN Margaret Atwood is one of the most acclaimed and prolific authors of the past 30-plus years, a woman of towering intellect and imagination. 

Finding the courage to start writing is often the biggest challenge says acclaimed new author, Louise O’Neill, a judge in Eason’s short story competition for secondary school pupils.

Margaret Atwood