‘I watch old westerns while the spuds are in the oven’: creative people on how they relax
Musician Grace Chatto tunes in to the Shipping Forecast, actor Antonia Thomas is soothed by David Attenborough – and author Irvine Welsh writes
Insomnia by Marina Benjamin review – sleeplessness as resistance
Ranging from Penelope to Virginia Woolf, this study makes a case for restlessness and insomnia as acts of female rebellion
‘A rose with a thousand petals’ … what makes an aphorism – and is this a golden age?
Forget haikus, epigrams, proverbs, maxims, adages and riddles. If you’re needing a sliver of wisdom, try an aphorism. There are certainly plenty around …
Dream job: the writer paid to send millions to sleep
With sleep problems on the rise, Phoebe Smith was tasked with writing stories deliberately designed to help people nod off – with the help of Stephen Fry and Joanna Lumley
Can a sleepless night awaken creativity?
Famous insomniacs include William Wordsworth, Emily Brontë, Vladimir Nabokov and Marcel Proust so could there be a positive side to sleeplessness, asks Marina Benjamin
Reasons to Stay Alive: how the suicidal Ibiza rave memoir became an album
Matt Haig’s powerful self-help book was a lifeline for Andy Burrows, one-time drummer with Razorlight. Now, with a little help from Kate Hudson, the two men have turned it into music
Matt Haig: ‘I wanted to end it all, but surviving and thriving is the lesson I pass on’
At 24, he wanted to kill himself. Now a novelist, he teaches the readers of his books – and his children – how to get through when the future looks bleak
Book clinic: which books can help with my daughter’s low self-esteem?
A selection of books, from Victoria Jamieson’s Roller Girl to Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World, to help build confidence
Book clinic: what books can help me deal with depression and anxiety?
From Winnie-the-Pooh to a comforting tale by Marilynne Robinson, all kinds of literature can come to the rescue
Top 10 books about steroids
From Kathy Acker to Cordelia Fine, novelist Matthew Sperling introduces the best writing on a huge but barely acknowledged part of culture