DIRECT from London’s West End and based on the best-selling novel by Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner is a haunting tale of friendship which spans cultures and continents, following one man’s journey to confront his past and find redemption.

TOM and Giovanna Fletcher are known for their upbeat writing – he for his songwriting skills with bands McFly and McBusted and his children's books, she for her romantic fiction and blogs about being a mum.

1. When did you think about a career in writing/painting/film making and what were your first steps into it? When I want to explain the word oxymoron to my students I write the two words 'literary career' on the board.

GEORGE Costigan is one of those actors you instantly recognise on screen but whose name may easily escape you.

BOOK OF THE WEEK Belfast Walks by Seth Linder is published by O'Brien, priced £9.

AS SHE returned home from work as a cleaner in London one day seven years ago, the then 21-year-old Anna's life suddenly took an almost unimaginably horrific turn: bundled into a car by two men and a woman and taken to Luton airport, she was forcibly brought to the west of Ireland, where she sold into the sex industry for €30,000.

:: Fire Food: The Ultimate BBQ Cookbook by DJ BBQ is published by Quadrille, priced £15.

ON JUNE 27 2012 Martin McGuinness, then deputy first minister of Northern Ireland, shook hands with Queen Elizabeth backstage at the Lyric Theatre in a moment that was photographed and broadcast across the globe.