Welcome To Althorp

Theodora Clarke, 19/05/12

Lecturer and commentator

The Orbit is a case in point. Having seen it last week I can assure you it looks even worse than the photographs. It is an uninspiring piece of scaffolding which has no links to its environment and says nothing about the surrounding area or community.

Katherine Biggs, 18/05/12

Education Officer, Kew Bridge Steam Museum

Saturday 19th May will mark Kew Bridge Steam Museum's first foray into the Museums at Night festival of after-hours events at museums and galleries.

Michael Morpurgo, 17/05/12

Author and storyteller

Well, the film of War Horse came and went, much loved by many, less loved by others. I thought it was a wonderful adaptation of the story, as the play is too.

Gillian Darley, 19/05/12

Writer and broadcaster on architecture and landscape

I'm not a geologist, vulcanologist nor even a phenomenologist but I've spent a lot of time in the last few years reading about and watching Vesuvius, mostly online or in the media, and once or twice on the spot, while writing a book on its enduring fascination.

Ben Wallace, 19/05/12

Blogger and compulsive list-ticker

I am lucky enough to live in London, where the sheer number of museums, galleries and theatres mean it's almost impossible not to find yourself visiting places from time to time.

Nigel Hamilton, 16/05/12

Author, 'American Caesars: Lives of the Presidents, Franklin D. Roosevelt to George W. Bush'

They'd stood there, in those distinctive dust covers, gathering dust, for so many years. By rights they should have comprised a complete set of first editions, each one inscribed and signed by Ian Fleming to my father. And now they are all gone!

Matthew Crockatt, 17/05/12

Bookseller and e-book author

Imagine if you will a kind of literary kaleidoscope. Smash up the writings of Haruki Murakami, Borges and Denis Johnson. Pour the fragments into your kaleidoscope and put it to your eye. Start to twist the tube and watch the coloured patterns form, shift and reform into a different shape.This gives an approximate idea of what it feels like to read this astonishing novel.

Beth Burns, 17/05/12

Artistic director, Hidden Room Theatre

My concerns about missing the most perfect turns of the English language were largely unfounded. The plays are so good, that in the hands of passionate performers they go beyond the need to comprehend the words to get their meaning.

Rosie Clarke, 18/05/12

Campaigns Officer, Culture24

Museums at Night is the annual after-hours festival of culture and heritage, which explodes into life each year on the weekend nearest to International Museums Day. This year it will take place on Friday 18, Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 May - and it looks set to be the biggest ever, with over 500 events already registered!

Hilary Robinson, 15/05/12

Author, Feature Writer and Radio Producer

So why do we need printed books? The printed book doesn't run out of power or rely on a mislaid charger... I don't need to hide a printed book under the towel on the beach nor, for that matter, does it mind too much if I get sand in the cover... and when I do climb up to the first base of Everest I don't need to worry about a signal.

Sirena Bergman, 15/05/12

Journalist, blogger and campaigner

"That book is amazing! Everyone should to read it," said the woman sitting next to me on the train. Through my shock at someone speaking to me on the packed 7:50am service to Bedford I realised that the words were a carbon copy of my colleague's when she lent me How To Be A Woman by Caitlin Moran.

Holly Cara Price, 10/05/12

Agent Provocateur

Odds are, the word that pops into your mind when I mention Phil Collins is probably something like "Sussudio." It's highly unlikely that the first word you'd think of would be "Alamo," but that's about to change.

Martin Middlebrook, 12/05/12

International photojournalist and writer

My name is Martin Middlebrook. The 12 of you who read this regularly know this of course, but by other countries other conventions apply. So depending upon relative status or affection, my moniker here is either Kaakaa Martin, Mr Martin, or Martin Jan.

Ben Arogundade, 10/05/12

Author

The exact nature of Shakespeare's illness, and subsequent death, remains unknown, and is still the subject of much speculation. Here are the hypotheses currently debated by scholars.