Renowned novelist Beryl Bainbridge has died at the age of 75, following a short illness. She had suffered from cancer in recent times.

Bainbridge was born in Liverpool, and raised in Formby. She began her career as an actress - appearing in a 1961 episode of 'Coronation Street' – and apparently began writing as a way to fill time. Her first novel 'Harriet Said...' was rejected by publishers because of its dark subject matter, but her second and third attempts made it into print, even if they failed to make an impact.

It wasn't until the seventies that the novelist's work began to gain notice; 1973's 'The Dressmaker' was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, 1974's 'The Bottle Factory Outing' won the Guardian Fiction Prize, and 1977's 'Injury Time' was awarded the Whitbread prize for best novel. She accrued many more nominations and awards during the course of her career, including a second Whitbread prize, and the James Tait Black Memorial Award. She was also appointed a DBE in 2000.

Bainbridge also wrote scripts for television, and a number of her works made it onto the big screen. Her 1989 book 'An Awfully Big Adventure' was made into a 1995 film starring Hugh Grant and Alan Rickman, and she wrote a screenplay of her own novel 'Sweet William' for a 1979 film starring Sam Waterston.

She is survived by three children and seven grandchildren.

Neil Gaiman has won the Cilip Carnegie Medal for children's fiction for his novel 'The Graveyard Book', which is about an orphan boy who is brought up by ghost. The book has also won US equivalent award the Newbery Medal.

Gaiman says of the award: "For my seventh birthday I was given a boxed set of the Narnia Books by CS Lewis. The last of them, The Last Battle, had the words 'Winner of the Carnegie Medal' on it. I did not know what the Carnegie Medal was, but I knew it was something important. It was the first literary award I had ever heard of. And if the Narnia books had won it, then it had to be the most important literary award there ever was." He added that he first began 'The Graveyard Book' when he was 25, saying "And now I'm almost 50, it was worth the wait".

Margaret Pemberton, chair of the judges, said: "With great skill Gaiman has created a gripping page-turner, expertly supported by well-developed characters, that is full of humour and humanity".

To celebrate their seventieth anniversary, Puffin have published a list of seventy books they say are the best of all time. Amongst them are childhood classics that have been around for years, such as 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar', as well as more modern books aimed at older children, like Charlie Higson's 'The Enemy'.

The list is divided into themed categories, such as The Best Mischief and Mayhem, The Best Animals, and The Best Rhyme and Verse. Those you'd expect are very much there: 'Treasure Island' makes an appearance, as do 'Alice In Wonderland', 'Peter Pan', and a host of books by Roald Dahl. I'm surprised by the lack of Pooh, however, and slightly bored by the inclusion of two books by Lauren Child. 'Hairy McLairy' and 'Milly-Molly-Mandy' are in there, though, and that's as it should be.

The list – which you should look at if you have a child, probably, though you're not legally bound to agree with it – is to made available free from UK bookshops.

John Otway has announced a second book chronicling his rock n roll failures. His first, 'Cor Baby, That's Really Me' told the story of the time between his two hit singles (1977 to 2005), the second, 'I Did It Otway', recalls how his plans to charter a plane in order to undertake a world tour, taking 300 fans with him, went disastrously wrong.

The book will be published by KLG Press on 17 May.

The British Library has acquired a copy of the journal which helped begin the career of Ted Hughes, notable for containing notes hand written by the late former poet laureate. The Saint Botolph's Review was established by Hughes and his contemporaries when he was studying at Cambridge University, and features some of the first work published under the writer's own name.

The Review, which was established by Hughes and his peers at Cambridge University, featured some of the first works published under Hughes' own name. This dog eared copy, received from the poet's widow Carol, is also stained with wine, the result of an accident involving his friend Luke Myers, who was out selling copies of the publication, carrying  them in his bicycle panniers alongside bottles of wine.

Helen Broderick, curator of modern literary manuscripts at the British Library, says: "This acquisition of an annotated first edition of the Saint Botolph's Review offers researchers insight into Hughes's early work and will I hope lead to further research into his life and development as a poet and writer".

A first edition of Rudyard Kipling's 'Jungle Book' has been found at National Trust property Wimpole Hall in Cambridgeshire, and it has been written in by Kipling himself. The late writer did not sign the book, but the following words appear in the front pages: "This book belongs to Josephine Kipling for whom it was written by her father, May 1894". Compared against other examples in the Kipling archive, this handwriting is believed to be his.

Sadly, Josephine died when she was six, but her sister Elsie lived at Wimpole Hall from 1938 until 1976. The book turned up during a three-year cataloguing project conducted by National Trust librarians. Mark Purcell, the organisation's libraries curator, explained: "There are nearly 7,000 books in the Wimpole library and this has been a big project to catalogue them all properly, but as one of the nation's favourite children's books of all time, this first edition of the Jungle Book with its rare inscription is very special".

Wimpole Hall curator Fiona Hall added: "This inscription is very touching, especially when you consider that Kipling lost not only Josephine, but also his youngest child, John, who died in the Great War. As Kipling's only remaining child, Elsie would have really treasured this book".

Booker-prize winning writer Hilary Mantel and journalist turned novelist Robert Harris are amongst the literary stars set to appear at the seventh Borders Book Festival in Melrose this summer.

Also appearing at the event, which takes place from 17 – 20 June, are the likes of Douglas Hurd, Rory Bremner, Victoria Wood, Kathy Kette, Fergal Keane, Michael Morpurgo and James Naughtie. Two major literary prizes will be announced during the festival: Scotland's biggest literary prize,  the Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust/Scottish Arts Council Book of the Year, worth £30k, and the inaugural £25k Walter Scott prize for historical fiction, sponsored by the Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch.

Festival director Alistair Moffat commented that "this is possibly our most glittering programme to date", whilst Paul Bush, chief operating officer at EventScotland, which funds the event, added: "The Borders Book Festival continues to grow year on year and, with the introduction of the inaugural Walter Scott Prize this year, it will without doubt retain its position in the cultural events spotlight for many more to come".

The shortlist has been announced for that previously reported 'lost' Booker Prize. Hmmm, I suppose I'd better explain again. The award was originally annually given to a book published in the previous year, but since 1971, it's been given to the best novel of the current year, which means that a whole host of books published in 1970 missed out on a pop at winning it.

It was therefore recently announced that a special Booker prize would be awarded to one of those tomes, and a panel of three judges – Rachel Cooke, Katie Derham and Tobias Hill – have come up with a six book shortlist which will now be put to a public vote. A winner will be announced on 19 May.

Anyway, here's the important thing. The shortlisted books are 'The Birds on the Trees' by Nina Bawden, 'The Bay of Noon' by Shirley Hazzard, 'Fire From Heaven' by Mary Renault, 'The Driver's Seat' by Muriel Spark (pictured above), 'The Vivisector' by Patrick White and 'Troubles' by JG Farrell. Bawden and Hazzard are the only two still alive, so I kind of hope one of them gets it.

Former Poet Laureate Andrew Motion is writing a sequel to Robert Louis Stevenson's classic adventure tale 'Treasure Island'. The writer says that the book, set to be published in 2012, will be a story "packed with its own adventure, excitement and pathos".

If you know the novel then you are probably aware that its ending leaves it ripe for follow up, ending with a number of pirates remaining marooned on the island with the treasure still in place. I'm still not sure it's a good idea though; sequels not by the original author don't have an exactly distinguished history.

But what do I know? Here's what Dan Franklin, of Jonathan Cape, publisher, says: "Anyone who loved Stevenson's original will fall on this book with cries of delight. Indeed, I don't think I have seen such enthusiasm for a book proposal from every department of the company".

I suppose he would say that, though. It's not, incidentally, the first sequel written for 'Treasure Island': AD Howden Smith wrote 'Porto Bello Gold' in 1924 and Francis Bryan published 'Curse of Treasure Island' in 2001.

Novelist Iain Banks – aka Iain M Banks – is to give a preview of his yet-to-be-published new science fiction book when he appears at the Ullapool Book Festival in May. Which is very exciting, because he's brill. I'd probably be there, were it not for the fact that it's so far away from where I will be in May. But if you can, do. Take in an island or two whilst you're up there.

Other guests announced for the UK's most northerly literary festival include Ann Donovan, Kevin MacNeil and Guatemalan poet Umberto Ak'abal. It all takes place from 7 – 9 May.

The late Ted Hughes is to get a permanent memorial in Westminster Abbey's Poets' Corner, alongside such luminaries as Milton, Eliot, Keats and Wordsworth. The Dean of Westminster, Dr John Hall, has accepted him for the honour, following a campaign - spearheaded by fellow writer Seamus Heaney - to see the life of the former Poet Laureate commemorated in this way.

Dr Hall said: "Deciding within a few years of people's death that they will be remembered in hundreds of years' time is of course impossible. And yet, it is sometimes right to make such a decision, as Deans have done over the centuries. By no means every poet laureate has been commemorated in Poets' Corner. But the overwhelming weight of advice I have received suggests that this is the right decision".

Hughes's widow, Carol Hughes, said: "I am thrilled that something of his colossal presence will haunt the aisles of Westminster Abbey. Once the memorial is in place, I hope that those already familiar with Ted's work will see it as a fitting tribute, and those visitors who come across it unexpectedly might be inspired to discover his work for themselves".

Philip Pullman is expected to have special security when he appears at the Oxford Literary Festival next week. The writer is about to launch a new book about Jesus Christ, and has received angry letters accusing him of blasphemy.

The book, 'The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ' supposed that a man called Jesus did indeed live 2000 years ago, but that his status as the son of god was an invention of his disciple, Paul. Pullman recently explained to The Sunday Times that he has received threatening communications on account of the work, saying: "Many refer to the title itself, for which there is clearly a passionate objection from some out there. The letter writers essentially say that I am a wicked man, who deserves to be punished in hell. Luckily it’s not in their power to do anything like sending me there".

It's not the first of his books to prove upsetting for adherents of Christianity, of course. His 'Dark Materials' trilogy, written for younger readers, depicts alternative worlds in which god and his angels are not, in fact, deities.

Edinburgh based investment management firm Baillie Gifford has announced it will sponsor no less than seven literary festivals around the UK, including the one in its home city that takes place during Edinburgh's main August festival season. The finance outfit's literary associations will begin with the Bath Literature Festival which kicks off next weekend. Other events to benefit from the sponsorship programme include literary festivals in Cheltenham and Windsor.

Baillie Gifford marketing chief James Budden said he thought the (normally aging) audience found at literary festivals would be the right demographic for his company, while adding that he believed there was a "correlation" between "the diligence and imagination that successful writers bring to the creative process and what we bring to investments here at Baillie Gifford".

Paris indie film festival, the rather grand sounding European Independent Film Festival (or ECU for short), has announced details of its 2010 programme, including the films that will compete for the various awards the event dishes out each year.

Now in its fifth year, ECU will screen no less than 67 films between 12-14 Mar. Among the titles competing for awards are 'Curtains', a new film from Mighty Boosh star Julian Barrett which, this here press release says, "explores sex, puppets and unfortunate deaths", and 'Entwined', a new picture by Scottish film director Reeve Rixon. Judges at the fest include directors Audrey Najar and Frederic Perrot, Cannes award-winner Joao Salaviza and filmmaker Dunja Kusturica.

Revealing the competition contenders - or the 'official selection' as they call it - ECU President Scott Hillier told ThreeWeeks: "ÉCU 2010's official selection slate exemplifies the passion of independent filmmaking. These are films that are made by filmmakers who are driven by a desire so strong to tell their stories that they bare their souls on the screen. We will be projecting films that will touch the audiences and remain in their thoughts for a long time".

Author Katie Davies, aka Mrs Alan Davies, has won Waterstone's Children's Book Prize for her her first work, 'The Great Hamster Massacre'. Children's Laureate Anthony Browne described the book as "a funny and touching story told very convincingly and honestly".

Her book beat 'Flyaway' by Lucy Christopher, 'The Girl Who Could Fly' by Victoria Forester, 'Seven Sorcerers' by Caro King, 'Love, Aubrey' by Suzanne LaFleur, 'The Toymaker' by Jeremy de Quidt, 'Desperate Measures' by Laura Summers, 'Superhuman: Meteorite Strike' by A.G Taylor and 'The Crowfield Curse' by Pat Walsh.

Davies told the BBC: "I'm really thrilled. I think it will make a massive difference. It's a big deal to me. I was very surprised to even be on the shortlist, so I was thrilled to find out that I'd actually won".

She added: "I had always written bits and bobs, but I didn't think I would be able to make a living out of writing. My husband encouraged me to give up work, give it a year, and bought me a desk. He's been very helpful and great at coming up with ideas for my next books. He's thrilled for me winning this prize".

This was all over the TV news yesterday, so it's possibly pointless to report on it. But it would also seem weird to not mention it. So here goes. Famously reclusive author JD Salinger has died at the age of 91, from natural causes.

Born in New York, the writer grew up in Manhattan, and, following active service during WWII, gained his first successes in the 1940s, writing short stories for magazines such as the New Yorker. He is, of course, most famous for his novel about teenage angst, 'The Catcher In The Rye', published in 1951.

After its publication, Salinger almost immediately became disillusioned with the publishing industry, retreated to a newly acquired home in New Hampshire and effectively disappeared from public life. He refused the filming rights for his famous book, and took legal action on a number of occasions to protect his copyright, but never appeared in court.

His subsequent works – collections of shorter writings - were all best sellers, but nothing appeared after 1965. Visitors to his home have claimed, however, that he had at least fifteen completed manuscripts stored in a large safe, so who knows, there may be a posthumous publishing rush.

Salinger is survived by his third wife, and two children from his second marriage.

A teacher from East London has decided against letting Johnny Depp's company Infinitum Nihil produce a film of her novel 'The Carbon Diaries 2015', because she was not happy with the fact that they wanted to set it in the US. Saci Lloyd, who works at Newham Sixth Form College, has instead granted the rights to the book, which is aimed at teenagers and deals with the issue of climate change, to UK film outfit Company Pictures, who produced Channel 4's 'Skins'. Ms Lloyd said: "Much as I love Johnny Depp and it was a wrench, it was a 'maybe later, Johnny'. These books are really about London. It's a heightened reality, but the idea is it's close to things that could really happen".

Stephenie Meyer's 'Twilight' series of books about vampires, which has of course spawned a number of film adaptations, is responsible for an overall 4.9% boost of sales of children's books. I don't know if these books are any good, or anything, but I suppose people tend to think that if it gets kids reading, the quality isn't all important. Not that I'm saying these books are rubbish. They might be good. What do I know? Anyway, 'Twilight' books fill the top five slots in the annual Nielsen chart, with the Beano annual and some Miley Cyrus claptrap following behind.

Meanwhile, the top five of younger children's books includes that old favourite 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' by Eric Carle at number 1, and another old favourite, Maurice Sendak's 'Where The Wild Things Are' at number 4. It should come as no surprise to the parents of toddlers, however, that the top five is dominated by the work of Julia Donaldson: 'The Tyrannosaurus Drip Song' is at number 2, 'The Stick Man ' is at number 3, and 'The Gruffalo's Child' is at number 5.

Miep Gies, the last surviving member of the group of people who helped Anne Frank and her family to exist in their secret annexe, has died aged 100, after suffering a fall just before Christmas.

She was one of a number of employees of Otto Frank, Anne's father, who supplied the family with food and other goods for the two years they were in hiding, and it was Gies who found Anne's diaries, and kept them safe until after the war, hoping to return them to their author. Anne died, of course, from typhus, whilst imprisoned at the German concentration camp Bergen-Belsen.

After the war, Gies returned the papers instead to Otto, who survived the war, and he compiled them into a journal which was published in 1947. Over the years, Gies became well known as a promoter of the book, as she gave talks about Anne and her own experiences, and refuted allegations that the diaries were forgeries. She also rejected suggestions that she and her co-conspirators were brave: "They were powerless, they didn't know where to turn..." she once said of the Franks. "We did our duty as human beings: helping people in need".

I'm not a massive fan of musicals, it has to be said, so naturally I'm concerned that the work of one of my favourite writers is being turned into one. An adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro's 'Remains Of The Day' is to premiere in London later this year, running at the Union Theatre in Southwark from 31 August until 25 September. The show, produced by Simon James Collier in association with Fallen Angel Theatre Company and Poppy Ben-David, has been written by Alex and Chris Loveless, and will feature seventeen musical numbers and a cast of nine.

The Booker Prize winning novel has previously been adapted into a film, of course, starring Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson, which worked out okay, though inevitably, wasn't as good as the book. Anyway, Ishiguro approves of the new venture, and has given it his support. The writer told The Stage: "I’ve thought for some years now the story might adapt well to the stage. We had some interest in a stage version after the movie came out in 1993, but the stage rights were tied up with the film studio at that time. Just in the last couple of years, my agent and I had been talking about the possibility of a stage adaptation and she had put out some feelers".

He continued: "I must admit the idea of it being a musical was at first a rather challenging one. But as Sondheim has proved, it is possible to combine searching drama with music to tremendous effect, so I thought, why not let these guys run with it? I listened to Alex Loveless play some musical ideas on a piano and that convinced me it could work. Adapting this story as a musical, I could see, might have the advantage of highlighting its comedic and surreal aspects. It's an adventurous approach and I’m keen to support it".